The Price of Resurrection
by bge
Summary: Shinra is reborn, and leads AVALANCHE in a chase to prevent them to start the Mako reactors again. While looking for Shinra, AVALANCHE stumbles on documents that hold the key to resurrecting Aeris. However, the Aeris that is brought back is not the one e
1. Author's Note

The price of resurrection 

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  Author's note 

Well, yet another Aeris resurrection story Yet another "the big villain comes back and tries to kill the planet" story, although it's not Sephiroth or Jenova (I spared you that, at least...). This is my first work of fan fiction, because, well, FF7 is the first Square RPG I've played that I felt had enough depth in its characters. I had tried a Chrono Trigger fanfic at one point, but it wasn't going anywhere--I felt Chrono Trigger answered all the questions (and I was NOT going to bring Lavos back!). 

Thanks to Frank Verderosa for giving me an amazing series to read--the FF7 Internet series. Great stuff. Unfortunately, I must shamefully admit I borrowed some details out of your own fanfic: the bar at Kalm, Cosmo Canyon's role, getting rid of Cait Sith (although my Reeve is quite different from his), and Cloud's dreams (which isn't such a detail, but read on). However, the nature of those dreams is, I hope, different enough to be satisfying, and I also believe that what happens to Aeris is an interesting twist to the usual "Aeris is back/everything is now all right" plot. Any other similarities are not intentional; my goal is not to plagiarise, but to entertain. Still, I want to give credit where credit is due; since I read quite a bit of fanfic while writing this, if some elements of it slip in my own text, point them out and I'll freely acknowledge them. 

In any case, I hope you'll enjoy. Note: there may be some bizarre sentence structures and some poor choices of words. This is unfortunate. English is not my first language, so you'll have to bear with me. E-mail me your comments at [bge@crosswinds.net][1]. 

This document is Copyright © 1999 Benoit Goudreault-Emond. You are hereby granted rights to distribute it to whomever you wish in any manner you choose for non-profit purposes, as long as this copyright notice appears in the copy. 

By all means, spread this around--I want as much feedback as I can get. No need to ask me permission to put this up on a site (as long as it's unmodified). Just tell me you did so I know your webpage exists. 

The characters used in this document are all the property of SquareSoft, Inc. I am borrowing them only for my enjoyment and (hopefully) that of my readers. I thereby acknowledge SquareSoft's property of those characters. The other characters are my property; use them in your own stuff if you wish, but you'd probably be better off creating your own. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	2. The Story So Far

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  The story so far 

_I have attempted to insert parts of what is in this chapter in the overall story; however, I realized later that several pieces were missing. This chapter is meant to give the overall background of what happened after Meteor. I assume you know what happened before; the best way to do so is, of course, to play the game!_

It's been two years since Meteor. 

AVALANCHE members have separated, attempting to return to their life before Sephiroth entered it. 

Nanaki returned to Cosmo Canyon, taking the same role as his father before him. However, he is rather young for the task, and although he tries hard to hide it, he is incredibly bored. Monsters are getting fewer and fewer on the Planet, and Nanaki finds himself spending more and more time in the Cosmo Canyon library, reading older and older books. He is looking for something, but he does not know what, exactly. 

Cid returned to Rocket Town. Although he dreams of building another rocket, he has decided to take it slow for a while. Most of his time was spent restoring the Highwind to its older form, and repairing the Tiny Bronco. Shera still lives in his house, and Cid is quite polite to her, but he does not know exactly how to handle her; he feels guilty for treating her badly for all those years. 

Vincent has been searching for Lucrecia, with no success. The woman has seemingly disappeared. His heart broken, Vincent wanders in the world, visiting his old teammates frequently. They are, after all, the only family he has left. 

Reeve has founded his own company, Locust Inc., and is looking for alternatives to Mako as energy sources. His first big contract was to rebuild Midgar. He would have preferred to relocate its population, but that would have proven quite difficult, so he chose the most obvious alternative. After two years of intensive construction work, Midgar is mostly rebuilt, and people have started moving back up on the plates. Busy with other things, Reeve has left them build the social structure they wanted. Reeve does not use the Cait Sith robot anymore; he feels he must face reality in the flesh. 

Barret has moved to Corel, and he is in charge of rebuilding the town. The citizens of Corel had ejected him from the town as a pariah; he came back as a hero. Corel has reopened its coal mines, now that Mako energy is not used anymore. Those are happy days for Barret, spending time with his daughter and attaining what he perceives to be his redemption by rebuilding Corel. Elmyra has followed Marlene to Corel, and acts essentially as the little girl's surrogate mother. 

Yuffie has returned to Wutai, and has been mostly training and enjoying the Materia she "liberated" from the other AVALANCHE members. Great things are going on in Wutai. The city is becoming a world power once more, modernizing its infrastructures and philosophy. Yuffie is enjoying great prestige. However, more and more responsibilities are being put on her shoulders, and the strain is causing her to grow up...somewhat. 

Cloud and Tifa, having nothing to return to, are trying to make a new life for themselves in the quiet town of Kalm. Tifa has opened a bar in Kalm, which is having rather good success. Cloud is living in the basement of the bar, and is working as an exterminator, killing leftover monsters in the area. However, he has become a shadow of the calm, confident man that had been leading AVALANCHE in the Meteor crisis. Cloud is feeling immense guilt over Aeris' death, and although he keeps telling himself that she's probably happy where she is, he still hasn't accepted it. Tifa is at loss, not knowing why Cloud is withdrawing within himself, and longs for the closeness they shared before Meteor fell. Still, she remains at his side, not daring to confront him in fear of driving him away. Meanwhile, Cloud wonders why Tifa seems remote most of the time, and longs for things the way they were before Meteor as well. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	3. Meeting Old Friends

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  1. Meeting old friends 

The loud curses that could be heard from outside the tavern confirmed that Nanaki was at the right place. 

As he got closer to the tavern's open door, he could perceive two distinct sets. Some, rather sacrilegious, came from a gravelly, smoke-stained voice. Others, rather unflattering towards the lineage of the tavern's customers, were coming from a deep bass voice. As he came in, Nanaki immediately saw the owners of the two voices sitting in a table towards the back. Cid Highwind, air and space pilot extraordinaire, and Barret Wallace, director of the Corel mining operations. Apparently, Cid was paying Barret a visit in Corel. Although in the past, both men had been slightly wary of one another, they gradually started to respect one another, and finally became the best of friends. One would regularly visit the other's town and terrorize the local tavern's patrons. 

Nanaki took a deep breath (he intensely disliked such places and the disgrace alcohol could bring to humans) and padded to the table. 

As he reached about the center of the establishment, a few, then several pairs of eyes stared at him. Some of the patrons had their jaw hanging, practically touching the table they were sitting in front of. Nanaki didn't enjoy this. He tried to break the tension with some humor. 

"There is no need to worry: I won't eat anyone, since I have already eaten my lunch." 

The remark elicited little laughter, but the patrons stopped staring. They were still whispering among themselves, stealing hesitant glances at Nanaki. Still, that was better than having the whole bar stare at him. 

Nanaki padded towards the only people in the bar who openly smiled at him. Predictably, those people were Cid and Barret. Barret had a huge grin plastered on his face, an array of white teeth in the middle of his dark-skinned face. Cid's smile was hard to distinguish, as his face was hidden behind a cloud of acrid smoke from his cigarette. However, Nanaki knew it was there. 

"Hey, Red!" Cid called. "What brings you here? Have a seat!" 

Nanaki complied, trying to fit his bulk on the chair, which was much too small to accommodate his rump comfortably. Cid realized how ridiculous Nanaki seemed on the chair, his paws trying to find a proper spot so he could have a stable seating position. 

"On second thought, you may be more comfortable on the floor," said Cid. 

"You are most probably right, Cid," said Nanaki simply, as he jumped down to the ground. He adopted a seated position, looking like a big red jungle cat. Only his head was visible over the edge of the table. 

"Never figured out how ya can do that," muttered Barret. 

"Do what, friend Barret?" inquired Nanaki. 

"Sit on the floor," continued Barret. "It's cold. It's clammy. It's stone, we're in the middle of fall, and the owner's too damn cheap to buy coal for the furnace until snow comes out. That, despite coal being incredibly cheap around here." 

"I grow fur," Nanaki explained. 

"Hadn't noticed," Barret retorted dryly. 

"So," Cid interrupted, "what are you doing here, chasing after a drunk?" 

"Two drunks," Barret rectified. 

"Speak for yourself," shot back Cid. 

"Gentlemen," Nanaki said, in a quiet, serious tone. 

Both men turned to him, suddenly alert, looking very sober all of the sudden. When Nanaki used this tone, there always was a reason. 

"We have a problem." 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	4. Reaching Out To An Old Friend

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  2. Reaching out to an old friend 

_Cloud was standing in front of the young woman with long, braided brown hair. His sword was raised to strike. He heard Tifa gasp and Cid curse. He tried to snap out of it._

_He failed. The sword swung towards the young woman as she opened her eyes and smiled for a moment. It severed her neck neatly._

Screaming, Cloud woke up, shaking badly. Third night in a row he had this nightmare. He held his head in his hands, trying to pull himself together. The nightmares had started two years after Sephiroth had met his demise at Cloud's hands. They had been going on for a month now, getting steadily worse and worse, and always one point in common: Aeris' death. As a result, Cloud was getting less and less sleep, which probably made the nightmares even worse. A very ugly vicious cycle. 

Knowing, from having tried for a month, that there was no way he could fall asleep again, he got dressed and went out for a walk. His Chocobo was sleeping peacefully next to his tent. Cloud resisted the urge to scratch it between the ears, not wanting to wake the bird up. He slowly made his way to the nearby stream, and splashed some of the clear, pure water on his face, trying to clear his mind. He gazed at his reflection in the water. He really looked awful: face gaunt and dark circles under the eyes. He felt awful too, not just physically. He had taken off to a spot in the middle of nowhere to try to get some quiet, hoping it would take his mind off Aeris and allow him to sleep. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't working, and he could feel himself deteriorate rapidly. If he didn't get some solid sleep soon, his life may be in actual danger. He was tough, but a full month without proper sleep was a lot. 

Suddenly, a branch cracked to Cloud's right. Despite being incredibly tired, he was on his feet immediately, sword in hand. Cautiously, he moved towards a nearby bush from where the sound had originated. He used the tip of his sword to move some leaves out of the way and peered inside the bush. 

Predictably, out came a monster. Some bizarre, two-headed reptilian freak with lots and lots of teeth. It lunged at Cloud, who dodged the beast with ease. It lunged again, roaring. The noise woke up Cloud's Chocobo, who emitted a cacophony of squawks and, panicked, fled in some random direction. Cloud muttered a curse under his breath, and with a single sweep of his sword, chopped off one of the monster's hideous head. The monster's roar changed to a high-pitched, ear-drilling whine. The effect on Cloud was immediate: instinctively, he sliced at the beast again, taking off the other head and driving his sword deep into its body. 

The whine became a plaintive whimper, and then silence as the beast expired. 

Cloud sheathed his sword. Had he been in his normal state, he would have spun it over his head before putting it back to express his triumph, but he was too exhausted to even consider it. With a weary sigh, he went off after the Chocobo. 

* * * 

The sun was high in the sky when he finally reached the bird. He called to it, and it obligingly trotted towards its owner. However, when Cloud tried to mount it, it refused to stand still, twittering angrily. 

"It's gonna be one of those days..." sighed Cloud. He took the Chocobo's bridle and dragged it behind him, walking back towards his tent. 

He made it without further incident. When he finally came in view of the pole he had planted close to the tent to mark his position, he could perceive the smell of good food being cooked. A somewhat familiar smell... which he couldn't quite identify. Intrigued, he hurried on, and immediately recognized the smell as soon as he saw the cook. Obviously, Tifa Lockheart hadn't lost her touch in the kitchen. 

Despite feeling horribly exhausted, a smile appeared on Cloud's lips as he approached her as furtively as possible. Tifa did not notice him. She was obviously concentrating on peeling something Cloud could not see from his viewpoint. After watching her work for a short time, he got closer. 

"Figures it's you. Only person able to make something edible out of that thing," he said loudly. 

Tifa gasped and turned around, startled, knife still in hand. Then, dropping the knife, she gave him a smile that would've melted an iceberg. She ran to Cloud and hugged him. 

`Cloud! I'm so glad you're still here!" she said. "I thought you had already moved on!" 

Cloud was returning the hug, but rather awkwardly. Tifa realized something was not quite right with him. She drew back, wondering why he was so tense, and gasped again, this time in horror. His face was so gaunt, the circles under his eyes so dark, and his eyes... he looked exhausted, mentally as well as physically. 

"Cloud... You look awful!" Tifa blurted. 

"I know," Cloud replied, sadness heavy in his voice. 

"It hasn't gotten any better?" 

"It's gotten worse," said Cloud softly. 

Tifa looked at him in silence, concerned. It had been three weeks since Cloud had taken off. Before, he had been irritable, difficult. He had left without a note, after a shouting match with Tifa. She had wanted to follow him in the woods. He felt she would only annoy him. They argued. He left. She was furious. The normally cheerful Tifa had brooded for three days. She had gone as far as snapping at Vincent, who had been kind enough to drop by for a short visit to her bar in Kalm. Vincent had not complained at the treatment, but he must have had enough eventually, because he told her, "Tifa, being angry won't bring him back. Just give him time. Don't hurt yourself like that." 

Vincent always had a knack to come to the point. In one instant, she realized how badly she missed Cloud, and that her anger at him was really anger at herself for driving him away. She broke down and cried. Vincent just took her in his arms and let her, comforting her without saying a word. Finally, her sobbing ebbed and, realizing how much her reaction had revealed of her feelings for Cloud, she blushed and looked away. 

"Don't worry," Vincent had said, as if he could read her thoughts, "I won't tell a soul." 

"Thank you, Vincent," she had replied softly. 

"Although I don't think this will make much difference," Vincent had warned. "I believe everyone knows how you feel about him." 

"Is it that obvious?" she had asked weakly. 

Vincent had nodded. "Barret believes that he doesn't deserve you." 

She had looked up sharply. "And what do _you_ think?" she had asked, a hint of venom in her voice. 

Vincent had shrugged. "He's brave, noble, but he's incredibly dense. We all wish he'd realize what everybody else does. But it's not our job to tell him; it's yours." 

Tifa had sighed. "I know," she had said. "It's much more difficult than you would think..." 

Vincent had left the following day, promising to keep in touch. Later the same day, a pigeon had brought a letter from Cloud. It read: 

> _Tifa,_
> 
> _I'm sorry I snapped and yelled at you like that. Lack of sleep has taken a heavy toll on me. I hope you understand that I need to be alone for this. I have to purge myself of the daemons in my soul, of my guilt at failing my duty towards Aeris. I hope being isolated for some time will help me; however, so far, it has not._
> 
> _In any case, should something bad happen, like some maniac wanting to take over the Planet again, it would be best if you could reach me, as I foolishly forgot to return you some of the Materia I had in my sword. I'd bring it back, but I'd rather try to sleep; doing so is becoming increasingly difficult, and I don't want to risk losing even more to a couple of orbs unless there's an emergency. I am next to the tiny stream a couple of kilometers north east of Kalm._
> 
> _I hope you will understand that I ask you to refrain from rejoining me. I'd enjoy having you here with me, but this is something I can only do alone._
> 
> _Please forgive me from having been such a jerk. I realize that is no way to treat a friend, and my lack of sleep is a poor excuse. When I feel better, I'll try to make it up to you._
> 
> _Cloud._

After reading the letter, she had felt better, seeing that he at least had some inkling of how much he had hurt her by leaving so abruptly. Courageously, she had decided not to run to him, despite being worried about his note on how he still could not get any sleep. She resolved to wait for him to send her another letter. But a phone call from Reeve had forced her to rejoin Cloud prematurely. 

"Tifa?" asked Cloud, bringing her back to the present. 

"Huh?" 

"Where were you just now?" inquired Cloud, a puzzled expression on his face. 

"Three weeks ago..." replied Tifa, drifting off on the last word. 

"Ah." said Cloud, simply. "Well, again, I'm sorry, Tifa... I was really not myself at that point." 

"I understand, Cloud." replied Tifa, softly. 

"Seems like I spend my time apologizing, heh?" said Cloud, the beginnings of a smile showing on his lips. "Well. What brings you here," he continued, seriously. 

"Well..." Tifa hesitated. Should she really burden him with that? He didn't look in very good shape, and the news she brought might require him to go in combat. 

"Come on, out with it," urged Cloud. Then he stopped, sniffing the air. "Uh, I think your lunch is burning..." 

"Damn!" exclaimed Tifa, turning back to Cloud's portable stove that she was using to cook her meal. Indeed, black smoke was coming out. She turned the stove off, and looked darkly at the food. Luckily, it was only slightly charred. Still, in her professional opinion, it was ruined. 

"Hm. I had thought I'd share with you if you were around," she told Cloud, who was trying to conceal his amusement, much to her annoyance. "But I'm not sure that's such a good idea now." 

"Are you kidding? Tifa, you'd make a piece of charcoal taste good. Of course I want to share it!" 

"All right. Grab a piece," she told him, presenting him the pan. Cloud took a nearby plate and she placed a piece of meat in it. She then took her own share of the food, and sat down on the grassy ground, looking up at Cloud, inviting him to sit besides her. He plopped down. Tifa took her first bite, and grimaced slightly; it was far from being up to her standards. Cloud did not seem to mind as he took a big bite out of it. 

"Thanfs, Tifa--if's delifious," he said, mouth full. 

"I'm glad you think so, Cloud," she replied absently, taking another bite reluctantly. That one wasn't so bad. 

"So, anyways," Cloud said clearly this time, having swallowed, "are you going to tell me why you came here?" 

Tifa hesitated again, buying time by taking yet another bite. Cloud knew, of course, that _she_ would not speak with her mouth full. She considered. He looked bad, but he had seen worse and still fought on. Possibly, getting his mind off Aeris would make things better. Besides, if he didn't want to come, he could just say so. Right. She should tell him. 

"Well, there's trouble..." Tifa begun. Cloud immediately scowled, and Tifa stammered the rest, "...somebody is claiming Shinra is still alive and plans to retake Midgar." Midgar had just been rebuilt, although what was left of its Mako reactors was, thankfully, unused. 

Cloud did not appear surprised. He looked downright calm. He was frowning very heavily, looking out in the distance. "I guess that means AVALANCHE is being reassembled?" he said after an unnerving pause. 

"That's right." Tifa replied quickly. 

Another pause. "OK. I'll get my stuff." 

"Are you sure about that?" asked Tifa, concern evident in her voice. "You're so tired..." 

Cloud looked her straight in the eye. Her breath caught. Such intense blue eyes. "I'm going," he said simply. He nodded, to emphasize his point. Then, he shouldered his sword, and got to work disassembling his tent. 

"Oh! Let me help you with that," said Tifa, wolfing down the last of her lunch. Between the two of them, the tent was brought down and folded away very quickly. By the time they left, it was not even noon yet. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	5. A Battle Is Planned

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  3. A battle is planned 

Cloud, closely followed by a worried Tifa, opened the door to Barret's office in Corel. Barret, Cid, Vincent, Reeve and Nanaki were already there, and rose in greeting. They all froze in mid-movement, shocked at Cloud's appearance. 

"Good lord, Spike... Have you been through the Lifestream again? You look like hell!" blurted Cid, echoing the sentiment of everyone else in the room. 

Cloud waved his hand dismissively. He sat down, slowly, but one could see that he wasn't totally wasted yet. He had managed to get some sleep while riding the boat and train to Corel, although it had ended with the usual nightmare, he had somehow managed to sleep more than usual. Surprisingly, talking with Tifa had had a good effect. He felt weak, but not helpless. 

"It's good to see all of you. I have not been getting much sleep lately; I'm sure Tifa told all of you about that. But I'll do my best." Then, he added, a wan smile on his lips, "I've been through worse." 

"That's the spirit!" bellowed Barret. "I knew we could count on you!" Everybody sat back down. 

Nanaki interrupted. "I'm glad you are willing to accompany us. Events have been taking place that are disturbing me greatly. I believe swift action is necessary." 

"Come to the point, Red," growled Cid. 

"Ahem. Well, when Shinra's home office was destroyed two years ago, some Shinra employees and sympathizers escaped to Junon, hoping to evade Meteor. There, they basically took over the town, placing their flunkies in place of the legitimate representatives. This was all done rather quietly. Being otherwise busy at the time, we did not notice the change. 

"Well, they stayed quiet for a time. Something about a fight in their power structure. There was no known descendant to Rufus, and no clear successor, except perhaps Reeve. Needless to say, Reeve was not interested." Chuckles from Reeve. "In any case, we learned of the Shinra takeover six months ago, but decided to leave it alone. We were busy rebuilding parts of Midgar and getting as many people out as we could. I thought it would not be a big problem, since there was no clear leadership. And after all, for a time, Shinra had done good, so Reeve thought they should be given a chance. 

"Unfortunately, things did not turn out that way. It appears Rufus had an illegitimate child, a daughter named Katya, who came out of hiding a couple of weeks ago. She has eliminated her competitors--in what way, I am not sure, as rumors are quite wild on that subject--and is now president of the company." 

"What kind of person is she?" asked Tifa. 

"Ruthless, driven... I believe all she wants is power, nothing more, nothing less," answered Nanaki. "She's very ambitious. She's ready to do anything to reach the top. I'd say she's also a bit of a megalomaniac," he concluded. 

"So I guess negotiation is not possible, huh." stated Barret. 

"I tried contacting her, telling her that I was willing to merge my own company, Locust Inc., with hers," said Reeve. "She just laughed, saying something about me being a cream puff," he added bitterly. 

"Looks like trouble is brewing, then," concluded Cloud. "Does anybody know what she plans to do next?" 

"She was sighted going towards Nibelheim," said Nanaki. "I believe she hopes to find some information on Mako extraction in the books there." 

Cloud blanched. "You're saying she wants to restart the reactors?" 

Nanaki nodded. "Yes. I believe she's not after the money as much as after gaining popular support. Although Locust, Inc. has been doing major research to find an alternate energy source, the fact is that they have no power right now, and a lot of towns look like they're back to the dark ages. Temporary gas and coal generators have been installed, as well as experimental MHD devices for direct extraction of energy from coal. That's why the Corel mines were reopened. However, those measures are insufficient, and the remaining citizens of Midgar are really suffering from the lack of power. If Shinra re-powers the Midgar reactors, they'll have Midgar behind them." 

"Surely they can't simply turn those things on?" inquired Vincent. 

"No. They'll need a major source of concentrated Mako energy, like the Huge Materia," replied Nanaki. 

"Then what's the problem?" asked Barret. "We have those damn rocks, so they're screwed!" 

"Then why are they moving on Nibelheim?" asked Tifa. 

Nobody talked for some time. Then, Cloud got up, slowly, and said, "I guess we better find out." However, in mid-movement, he stopped, just realizing something, frowned, and demanded, "Where in the world is Yuffie?" 

"Can't raise her. She's not answering her PHS," Reeve answered. 

"Well, we'll have to do without her, I guess..." Barret said. "She'd just steal all our stuff, as usual," he added, unnecessarily. 

With that, the crew walked out of Barret's office and set out to save the world. Again. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	6. Memories Are Recalled

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  4. Memories are recalled 

Tifa and Cloud in lead, AVALANCHE entered Nibelheim. Tifa was not exactly at ease. As she had each time she had come back to her home town, she could feel a lump in her throat. The place was not, actually, her home town, despite what her senses told her. It was a fake, a mockery built by the Shinra to hide the events that lead to Sephiroth's rampage and eventually, to his casting of Meteor in a mad attempt to become a living god. Reeve had proposed to scuttle the city and move its present inhabitants elsewhere, but Tifa had vetoed it, arguing that the people living here now had the right to do so. Still, it made her very uneasy, to the point where she considered asking Reeve to do it anyways. It was as if her past was blank, as if she had become a non-person. 

She glanced at Cloud, wondering whether he felt the same. His face was expressionless, but she thought she could see his jaw clench and unclench successively. Whether it was unease at being a man with his past erased, or only the pain of bitter memories, she could not tell. Without thought, she touched his hand. She then realized what she was doing, and, embarrassed, was getting ready to pull it back, but Cloud just closed his hand over hers, squeezing almost painfully. She hadn't realized how unpleasant the place was for him. Neither of them had words for what they were feeling, so they just stood there, in silence, looking deep within themselves. Cloud remembering how he had pushed Sephiroth in the reactor, and his horror at learning that he was still alive. Tifa remembering the death of her father. 

But they had prevailed. They had survived. Sephiroth was dead, by Cloud's hand. With that thought, Cloud breathed deeply and looked at what was in front of him. For the first time, he was seeing it as what it was rather than what it had been. He eased his grip on Tifa's hand, and she reluctantly let him go. Then, he turned to his companions, who were waiting in respectful silence behind them, each of them waiting for him and Tifa to come back among the living. Cid lighting a cigarette, thinking he had to get off that stuff: it was killing his wind. Barret, polishing his gun-arm, a bit depressed at having to leave Marlene behind again to save the world. Reeve, speaking quietly in his cell phone, no doubt directing his employees back in Kalm. Vincent, gazing somewhere, thinking something, though who knew what? Nanaki, sitting calmly, wondering why Katya was moving in this innocent-seeming little village. 

And Tifa, next to him, seemingly embarrassed about something, as usual when she was around him. What was it with her? He did not know. He promised himself he'd work up the nerve to ask her someday. But now, there was business at hand. He took one last look at his companions, those that had stuck with him through all those battles, and he wondered how one could be more lucky than he had been to find friends like that. 

"All right," Cloud started, bringing everybody back to reality. "Let's split up. Red, Vincent, come with me to the Shinra mansion. Their library is extensive, and we may find what we're looking for there. Tifa, take everybody else and move on to the reactor. I don't think Shinra had the time to make it before us, thanks to the Highwind, but I think they'll show up eventually. I intend to have a reception committee ready for them. Any problems?" 

There were none. Nobody spoke up for a time, and then: 

"If I'm being a damn fool, and you don't dare to tell me, tell me anyway. I'm too tired to bust your butt," said Cloud good naturedly. 

Everybody laughed. Even Vincent managed a weak smile. Barret said: 

"It's fine like that. Let's go!" 

"OK, then. Good luck," Cloud wished his companions. As AVALANCHE split in two groups, he had a thought. "Oh, and Tifa..." he hesitated. 

She turned. "Yes?" 

"...Take good care of yourself," Cloud managed to add. 

Tifa grinned. "Aye aye, Sir!" she said smartly, saluting and standing at attention. She then spun around and moved off, leading her group towards the reactor. 

* * * 

The Shinra building in Nibelheim was as deserted and ominous as ever. Cloud led the way, Nanaki following and Vincent bringing up the rear. They reached the heavy door to the basement without incident. As Cloud pushed the door open, however, several bats flew out, trying to get a bite out of the trio. But between Cloud's sword, Nanaki's fangs and Vincent's gun, they were all either driven away or killed within a minute. And that was because Cloud was not in very good shape. Without a word, Cloud, his sword still drawn (he knew what was to come in there), started going down, quickly followed by his two companions. Fifteen sliced, shot and bitten bats later, the trio had reached the library. Cloud opened the door and entered the room. Another piece of memory came back to him, but, gritting his teeth, he forced it back to the dark recesses of his mind. 

"Pity I never had the time to look through all of this," Nanaki suddenly said wistfully. "It is a fascinating account of what Shinra had done over the years." Then, at Vincent's piercing look and Cloud's frown, he quickly added, "From a purely scientific point of view, of course." 

Cloud shook his head, smiling grimly. "I'm sure when this is all over, Red, you'll be able to grab all of this stuff and ship it over to Cosmo Canyon. Now is not the time, though." 

"Agreed," Vincent concurred. "What shall we look for, exactly?" 

"Mako extraction techniques is what interests us here," answered Red. "Specifically, notes on the very first reactor built." 

"Let's get to it, then," Cloud concluded. 

They got to work. 

* * * 

"Are we there yet?" 

Tifa could not repress a smile at hearing Barret say this for what seemed to be the millionth time. It reminded her of a certain endless climb at Shinra headquarters, two years ago, where Barret had been grumbling all the way to the top. He had been serious at first, but eventually started doing it just to annoy her. Obviously, he was trying to annoy her right now. It was not really working. In fact, the memory made her almost cheerful, despite the disaster in which that mission had ended. 

Not wanting to have Barret think she wasn't listening, she simply shook her head, not bothering to turn back to look at him, and said: "No." 

"There yet? Heh heh heh..." she heard him chuckle. 

"Ah, Wallace, shut up, dammit!" yelled Cid from his spot in the back of the file. "You're gonna give me an ulcer!" 

"Hey! I'm just asking a question, Highwind. Ya can't handle that?" Barret yelled back. 

"Not the same stupid question a thousand time, Wallace! Shut up and walk!" 

Tifa would have normally let them bicker. When the two men started calling one another by their family name, she knew, a contest for the wittiest repartee would quickly devolve into a trade of the most ridiculous insults one could think of, until both men, realizing how stupid they sounded, would crack up and laugh like crazy. Some male bonding thing she didn't feel she had the right to interfere with. Still, this group was her responsibility, and she wanted to make sure everybody was on guard, so she said: 

"Boys, save your wind. We still have a harsh climb ahead. Cid, I suggest you listen to your own advice..." 

She could practically feel the good mood of the two men evaporate. So she turned around and winked at them. Their good mood came back immediately, but they stayed silent. 

That's when she realized something. The Cait Sith robot had been disassembled by Reeve a month after Holy had been unleashed. It was only logical for Reeve to be there in person after that. However, unlike the robot, Reeve had no combat skills, no armor, and looked quite vulnerable, all skinny in his blue three-piece suit. Tifa slowed down, signaling a puzzled Barret to take the lead, and came next to Reeve. 

"Nice view, isn't it?" she began. 

"Oh, yes..." Reeve answered with some awe in his voice. "Cait Sith had seen it, but the damn cameras are black and white. This is nothing like I had on that old boring TV screen. I'm glad to see it in the flesh. And I'm really glad it's still there for me to see." 

"Speaking of Cait Sith... You realize now you're in person with us, do you?" she asked. 

"Sure. What of it?" he countered, puzzled. 

"And we may be heading into a fight..." she continued. 

"Yes, we are... And...?" he replied, puzzled. 

My God, how could the man be so slow on the uptake? "And... Well, you're here in your three piece suit. Can you dodge bullets? Or is this suit made out of some top secret bullet-proof mesh?" she asked him, her tone slightly sarcastic. 

Reeve's eyes went wide, and color disappeared from his face. "Oh, my!" he exclaimed. "I hadn't thought of that! It was so natural for me to follow as Cait Sith, that... Oh, my!" he repeated. 

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tifa grinned. The whole thing was a bit ridiculous. "Well, do you have a handgun, at least?" she asked him, in a much gentler tone than before. 

"Uh... Yes, but I'm not especially Mr. Marksman," he admitted. 

"All right." She took a Barrier and a Restore Materia Orb out of her bracelet and handed them to him. "You can use those?" 

"I think so..." he answered hesitantly, then, as he snapped them in the gun's handle and felt the power of the orbs, added, with more confidence, "Yes, I can." 

"All right," Tifa said. "Now, I don't have many offensive orbs on me... Barret! Mind handing him that Fire Orb you've been dragging around?" 

Barret had been listening to the conversation, first amused, but then growing more and more annoyed. This was the last straw. Reeve had stupidly come in practically naked, and now he was supposed to get a free Orb? Gaah! "Why don't you ask Highwind? He's got plenty too!" he snapped. 

"But at least I can use it properly, Wallace!" Cid shot back. Which was a bit unfair to Barret, but had some truth to it nonetheless. Barret was not the best mage in this outfit. 

Tifa frowned at the black man. "Barret." Her tone allowed no argument. 

Barret just looked at her for a moment, and finally gave in. "All right, all right! There's your Orb, mister executive! Try not to lose it, you damn screw-up! Why am I always stuck with screw-ups? How come I never get a single good teammate? Why me?" he complained. 

Tifa could have easily refuted his arguments, citing any other team member, but knew that was pointless. Barret was just grumbling for form. She came to his side, and without breaking stride, gave him a peck on the cheek, whispering a warm "Thank you" next to his ear. 

"Yeah, sure. Anytime," Barret grumbled. But Tifa knew he was mollified, at least for the time being. 

"Hey!" yelled Cid from the back. "Don't I get a kiss too? I have to put up with this bozo!" 

"Just keep walking, Cid," Tifa replied with fake weariness, having a hard time keeping an edge of amusement off her voice. She passed Barret, and, recognizing the area, sprinted to the top of the peak in front of her, ignoring her teammates' protests at her sudden change in pace. She passed the peak, and was rewarded with a view of the reactor. 

Reeve rejoined her first, followed closely by Barret and Cid. She pointed the reactor and said, "That's it. Nibelheim's reactor. From now on, everyone stay on your toes. There might be some critters left down there." 

The men said nothing as they readied their weapons. All signs of the previous good-natured banter had evaporated, as everyone now kept their senses alert for any suspicious events. _Despite what Barret says,_ Tifa mused, _This team is very far from being a bunch of screw-ups._. She noted with some satisfaction that although Reeve seemed very nervous, he was constantly looking around for any sort of danger. _There's hope for him. I must make sure he survives this._

* * * 

"Do you think we should wake him?" asked Nanaki. 

Vincent looked at Cloud, who fast asleep, face in the book he had been reading. He was breathing peacefully. 

"No, let him rest. Tired as he his, he'd be no help," he answered. 

"Very well," said Nanaki as he turned back to the shelf. He was in the process of collecting books for further study whenever they got back to Corel. 

Some minutes passed as the red beast and the mysterious man read through as much as they could. Suddenly, Cloud cried out, startling Nanaki (but not Vincent, who simply looked up from his book with an unreadable expression). His eyes were unfocused, as he was remembering... 

_Having been pulled in the Lifestream by Sephiroth, Cloud faced his adversary one last time. He felt his anger build as his memories of how much pain and suffering the man had caused in his insane quest for becoming a living God. He lashed out, unleashing his anger in a series of slashes and stabs. He lunged out, again and again, seemingly without end. Finally, having drained his anger and energy, he stopped, looking at Sephiroth._

_But somehow, he had made a horrible mistake. Instead of Sephiroth lying on the ground mortally wounded, lay Aeris, her numerous wounds bleeding heavily. She smiled at Cloud in pity, a smile full of understanding, mouthing the words "it's not your fault" before she died._

_And then, Sephiroth drove his sword in Cloud, sending excruciating pain through his entire body..._

"Breathe deeply," ordered Vincent, having risen from his chair and put a comforting hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Slow. Steady. Think of the air going in and out as an ocean. Feel its wave going through you, relaxing you." 

Cloud listened to Vincent's calm voice, taking a shuddery breath, and then another, less shuddery, until he could finally breathe normally. He then put his head between his head, trying not to simply break down and cry. This was the worst one yet... 

"Cloud..." began Nanaki. He paused. Then: "Your nightmare again?" Cloud simply nodded. Nanaki continued. "Do you remember what it was?" 

"I do, but I want to forget," whispered Cloud. "As soon as I can. It was awful, Red. Utterly awful." 

He then looked up, both at Vincent and Nanaki. "My friends, tell me... I didn't kill her, didn't I? It was Sephiroth who did it, wasn't it?" 

"Killed whom?" asked Nanaki, knowing the answer but wanting to force Cloud to say it. 

"Aeris," whispered Cloud. His eyes were pleading. He needed to be reassured. 

"How can you even ask this?" said Vincent forcefully. "Tifa and Cid were there with you! You raised your sword, but managed to snap out of it, when Sephiroth came out from nowhere and stabbed her from behind!" 

"That's really how it happened?" asked Cloud softly. "You would not lie to me? Try to spare my feelings?" 

"Tifa might," said Vincent. That made Cloud wince; it was not something he liked to be reminded of. "But I doubt Cid would." Then: "But don't you remember?" 

"I'm not sure whether I can trust my memories anymore..." said Cloud bitterly. 

"Well, you can trust those, my friend," Nanaki assured him. "How can you even consider your dreams more meaningful than your memories?" he added. 

"When one feels enough guilt, however misplaced, one begins to doubt one's whole self," muttered Vincent. 

"Why do you say that?" asked Nanaki, a hint of curiosity in his voice. "It's as if you've experienced this yourself..." 

Vincent acted as if he hadn't heard. 

Cloud pulled himself together. "All right. I'm OK now. Let's find that damn book and get out of here." 

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Nanaki, concern evident in his voice. 

"No," replied Cloud, grimacing, "I'm not. But this shouldn't stop us from completing our mission here. We must not lose sight of our objective." 

"Well said," Vincent complimented, going back to his book. Nanaki hesitated a while longer, then nodded slowly and resumed reading the volume in front of him. 

Cloud sighed, and got back to his own book. It was incredibly dense, incredibly technical, and he was really not feeling up to it. He needed to take his mind off of all this. Despite having gotten little sleep, he felt restless, feverish. He tried to read a bit more, but to no avail. He suddenly got to his feet and walked out. Nanaki gave him a puzzled look. 

"Are you well, my friend?" Nanaki asked. 

"I'm fine," snapped Cloud. "I'm gonna join Tifa and the others at the reactor. I'm no good down here--I can't concentrate." 

Nanaki nodded. "Very well. Be careful." 

Cloud just smiled, and stormed off. 

* * * 

As soon as Tifa entered the reactor, she knew something was wrong. She could not quite place it, but something was bothering her. 

"So, this is where it all began," said Reeve to himself, aloud. Tifa could barely hear him. 

"Yeah, that's the place," said Tifa distractedly. 

"Hey, Tifa! Anything botherin' ya?" asked Barret. 

"What?" she yelled back at him. She couldn't hear him over the racket in there. 

"I said, is anything botherin' ya!" repeated Barret, very loudly this time. 

Then Tifa got it. The noise. The reactor's machinery was still running. This was not supposed to be. It meant the Shinra had been there. 

"Everybody, get ready! There's going to be trouble!" she ordered. Nobody moved straight off, looking at her with a puzzled expression. "Can't you hear it? Reactor's still running! MOVE IT!" 

Three pair of eyes got wide as the men realized what this meant. They all assumed combat stance immediately and started to spread out. Tifa moved towards the entrance to the reactor's core. As she predicted, trouble came: some huge robotic contraption came out, ripping metal out of the door frame to make room for its bulk. It was about three meters high, four meters wide, and featured several cannon-like tubes. It moved on threads, and seemed to be made out of extremely tough metal. Tifa slowed down as the machine came out of hiding, but then her old battle reflexes took over, and she actually started to run faster. She ran up the stairs and rammed the robot, both fists held forward, and dealt it a blow of considerable force. The robot shook, but no dent was visible in its armor. However, it trained one of its cannons on Tifa and fired a shell. She narrowly dodged it, and dealt the machine another blow, again without any visible effect. 

Barret and Cid snapped out of their initial surprise at seeing the robot ---and at seeing it withstand one of Tifa's strongest moves--and moved in. Barret poured bullets into the metallic frame of the mechanical monstrosity, but besides some scuff marks, no visible effect could be seen. Cid charged with his spear, hoping to puncture the armor. However, seemingly seeing him as a danger, the machine fired a shell at him. Cid tried to dodge and failed; the explosion threw him on a side wall. He was knocked out immediately. 

Tifa kept hitting the metallic monster, staying close such that the cannons could not be rotated to hit her. Her blows still didn't have any visible effect. However, it helped Barret avoid the shells, as the constant hits Tifa was giving the robot messed up its aim. Still, the explosions came close enough to Barret that he had to hide behind one of the Mako infusion pods, and he couldn't get a clear shot. 

"I can't get out of cover without getting hit!" yelled Barret. 

"Reeve!" Tifa yelled towards the front of the reactor, still pummeling the robot with all she got, trying to allow Barret to come closer so he could use his gun-arm at point-blank range. "Snap out of it and get started with that Materia!" 

Reeve snapped out of a daze, and concentrated on the Barrier Orb. A gray wall seemed to come in front of Tifa and Barret. It hadn't come a moment too soon: Tifa had stumbled and the robot had fired a shell at her. The explosion threw her down the stairs, but she managed to land on her feet, unharmed although somewhat dazed by the shell's impact. However, Barret, who had managed to get somewhat closer, got nailed as well, as Tifa was not there to mess up the machine's aim. He was thrown to the floor, but got up immediately and kept firing at the robot, cursing under his breath. He knew he would not be able to get close enough to pierce the machine's armor until Tifa started slugging it again. Unfortunately, she was having as much trouble as he was having coming close to the robot. It was sitting on top of the stairs, and they were at the bottom; this gave the machine an advantage. 

The two opponents remained stalemated for several minutes, and Tifa was starting to feel frustration. She and her friends were effectively pinned behind the Mako pods, and there was nothing she could do to shake the feeling that it was exactly what the Shinra had wanted when they activated that monstrosity. No doubt they were deep inside the reactor, doing whatever nasty business they had come to do. And there was no way for them to pierce that armor. They needed either Lightning Materia, or a fully conscious Cid and his spear, and they had neither. And as long as the machine managed to keep Barret far away, there was no way his bullets could do the job Cid's spear would have done. They had to get closer. Tifa signaled Barret, who nodded. On the count of three, they both rose from behind their cover and started running towards the robot. Tifa hoped that it would concentrate on her so Barret could get closer. However, seeing that it had to choose between two dangerous targets, the machine chose both: a cannon it had not used before unfolded out of its body in the blink of an eye and fired a laser with a wide firing arc. Barret took the brunt of it and was promptly knocked out when his head banged on a nearby Mako infusion pod that, ironically enough, had been his cover a few instants before. 

However, as soon as the robot fired, Cid sprung into action. He had been waiting for an opening, faking unconsciousness, thrusting his friends to force the robot in some energy consuming maneuver. The machine was presently standing idle, waiting for its accumulators to recharge after the laser blast. Faster than the eye could follow, Cid leaped high in the air and, Venus Gospel pointing forward, used a Mako pod as a blast off point. He leaped towards the robot, driving his spear deep in its forward armor plate. Following through, he landed on top of the machine, dragging his spear after him, creating a long, narrow gash in the robot's frontal armor. He pulled his spear out and lifted it high above his head, intent on driving it deep within the machine's circuits. Unfortunately, its accumulators had recharged enough for it to start thrashing around. Cid lost balance and stumbled down the robot's body, ending his fall on his side next to the robot's front right leg. 

But as soon as the robot was rid of Cid, Tifa was once again on top of it, lashing out with a flurry of punches and kicks. She let herself consume in anger, her fury fueling her blows. She ended the combination with a powerful punch that channeled all her energy. The machine was thrown on the back wall, the gash Cid had made now so wide that Reeve could clearly see the circuitry of the machine's hardware from his vantage point at the bottom of the stairs. 

Without hesitation, Reeve cast a Fire spell inside the gash, melting the circuits inside to slag. The robot collapsed like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. 

It was over. 

As Cid was helping Barret up, and Reeve was coming over, Restore Materia in hand, Tifa jumped over the now inanimate assemblage of metal and ran inside the chamber that once had held Jenova. She looked around, but could not figure out what was missing. No dust had been lifted, save for the dust in front of the door disturbed by the robot and the dust on the Reactor's control panel. She walked over to the latter and a frown appeared on her brow as she deciphered the indicators. Although all the machinery was apparently running perfectly, no Mako energy was being extracted. She stayed in front of the panel for a long time, looking at the energy output readout intently. Finally, in a single, decisive movement, she brought the power lever down, shutting down the reactor. 

She got back to the Mako Pod room, where her friends were recovering. Barret looked unhurt save for a bump on his head, but the stream of curses coming out of his mouth revealed that he was extremely angry at himself for having been taken out that easily. Cid, obviously pleased with his little maneuver, was taking the opportunity to remind Barret of his earlier complaint about having to work with "damn screw-ups," pointing out that those had saved his ass once again. Reeve was looking from one to the other, smiling; however, his face was ghostly white. Tifa walked to him. 

"You did well, Reeve," she told the businessman. 

"You really mean that?" he asked, his smile widening slightly. 

Tifa nodded. "Of course. As soon as I widened the wound Cid had dealt to that thing, you melted the robot's circuits. That takes good battle reflexes." 

Despite the compliment, Reeve's smile vanished. "But I froze up in the beginning," he pointed out. "I was so shocked, seeing this thing in front of me, knowing that it was _real_ this time---" 

Tifa cut him off. "Everybody freezes up the first time," she reassured him. "As soon as I snapped at you, you moved. And you did exactly what I wanted you to do, despite my rather vague orders. That's as much as I can ask from anyone," she said with finality. 

Reeve's smile returned, and he seemed to look at Tifa in a whole new light. "You know, I wondered why Cloud had chosen you to lead this team. No offense, but I thought Barret had more the command-type mind. Now, I think I know why he chose you over him. You're a very good leader, Tifa." 

"I just do my best," she said shyly, looking at her feet. "Like everyone else," she added. She could feel herself blush at the compliment. 

Reeve was about to answer that, but was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of metal scraping metal coming from outside. Everyone froze, then as one, ran out of the reactor. 

There, they found Cloud, sword on his shoulder, standing on top of a heap of scrap metal. The size and shape of the heap matched roughly that of the robot his friends had just battled with. Standing there on top of what had been a dangerous metal menace a few seconds ago, he looked as tired as before, but also very, very proud of himself. 

Barret was the first to break the team's awed silence. "Hey, ain't that thing just like the bruiser that gave us so much trouble inside?" he demanded. 

"Sure is," Cid replied. "Way to go! Didn't know you had that in you, Spike!" he added, sounding quite impressed. 

"Well, let's just say I had something you didn't," admitted Cloud with a bit of humility. He threw a green Materia Orb towards Tifa. "Here, catch! I believe that's yours." 

Tifa looked at it, puzzled. Cloud saw that, and clarified, "You remember that letter I sent you when I was still in the woods?" 

She got it immediately, and her eyes went wide. "The Materia you had forgotten in your sword?" she asked. 

Cloud nodded. 

"I had completely forgot about it! Damn!" said Tifa, angry at herself. 

"That's OK, I forgot about it too," Cloud said, not wanting her to kick herself too much. "Anyhow, in case you don't remember, that's a Lightning Materia. That big menace tried to cut me off. I simply cast Bolt, and that shorted it long enough for me to cleave it asunder. And there you go." 

"Now even Spike is a damn screw-up!" yelled Barret. "That beats them all! Why me?" he said the last with his eyes rolled up, making Reeve chuckle at his theatrics. 

"Must be a curse or something," answered Tifa wearily. She was still mad at herself. Cloud was tired, so it was normal that he was forgetful; however, she had had all the sleep she had needed, so she had no excuse. 

As if reading her thoughts, Cloud said tenderly, "I told you, Tifa, don't kick yourself. I never should have taken those Orbs in the first place." 

Tifa sighed, and nodded. What was done was done. Then, she recalled something. "Can I speak to you for a minute?" she asked Cloud. 

Puzzled, Cloud nodded, and they both moved away from the rest of the group. Expecting them to take their sweet time, Cid started telling some dirty jokes, to Barret's amusement and Reeve's despair. 

"Well?" Cloud prompted when he thought they were far enough to talk in private. 

"There's nothing missing from inside the core," Tifa started. 

"That's good, isn't it?" Cloud asked. 

"Let me finish. The reactor was running when we came in," Tifa continued. Cloud frowned. "And it was drawing no Mako. Nothing. No electricity on the line. Just running dry." Cloud's frown was deepening. He looked down, thinking. 

"Why would somebody do that?" he finally asked. 

"I was hoping you'd tell me!" Tifa answered quickly. "I don't like it at all. I think they just lured us here while they were doing something else." 

Cloud considered that. Finally, he said, "You're probably right. Damn! We swallowed it hook, line and sinker! And meanwhile, they could be anywhere! Even powering up the Midgar reactors, for all we know!" 

"We don't know that," countered Tifa. "In fact, we don't even know what they need to restart those reactors, and they may not have found it yet. So we still had to come over here to figure out what they planned." 

"That's true," Cloud admitted. "Still, I feel bad splitting the group up. Everyone's time would have been better used in the library. I think we should go back there and lend Red and Vincent a hand." 

With that, they joined their friends, and the group got moving back to the village, leaving the Nibel reactor behind them. It was silent now, and would hopefully remain so forever. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	7. Feelings Are Revealed

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  5. Feelings are revealed 

AVALANCHE spent the rest of the day moving whatever books Nanaki and Vincent thought may be relevant from the library to the Highwind. The village's inhabitants got out of their houses, intrigued by the proceedings. Their shouted questions were ignored; everyone in AVALANCHE knew answering them would just waste precious time. The villagers had tried to corner Nanaki until he answered their questions, but Nanaki's growl and show of teeth convinced them to leave AVALANCHE alone. 

When the last set of books was loaded, it was getting dark. Everyone climbed up to the cockpit. Cid gunned the engines and lifted off. 

"Where to, now?" he asked. 

"I think Cosmo Canyon would be the most appropriate destination," said Nanaki. "The people there are scholars and could be a lot of help in our research." 

There were murmurs of assents around. Cid had to admit it made sense. 

"Awright!" he said, enthusiasm obvious in his voice. "Hang on to your seats, 'cuz we're OUTTA HERE!" And with that, he opened the throttle with as much force as he dared, launching the Highwind forward at an incredible speed. Barret, being the only person not braced (he had been talking to Marlene on his cell phone), flew to the back of the cockpit with a surprised cry. He ended his course on his rump, rather painfully. 

"Goddammit, Highwind!" Barret bellowed. "Can't you fly properly like every other pilot?" 

"Ah, don't be such a wuss, Wallace!" Cid admonished over his shoulder, clearly enjoying himself. "What's the fun in `flying properly,' anyways?" 

"You get to destination in one piece," pointed out Vincent. 

"Geez, you too? All right, all right, I get the message! I'll turn down the acrobatics," Cid promised grudgingly. Then, smiling mischievously over his shoulder, he added, "Until next time!" 

Despite Cid's flying style (or maybe, thanks to it), they made it to Cosmo Canyon in record time. Nanaki left for his chambers to study the volumes he thought were the most relevant, leaving the rest to volunteer researchers who were interested in Shinra's notes. The rest of AVALANCHE sat around Cosmo Canyon's eternal flame, reminiscing. 

"Why is it," Cid began, "that every time I look at that stupid bonfire, I feel like confessing all the stupid things I ever did?" 

"Dunno. It's just like that. I feel the urge, too," Cloud admitted. 

"Why don't you give in, then?" asked Reeve. "You always just look at that flame, saying nothing!" 

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno. The urge passes after a time," Cloud explained. 

"We know all about your idiocies, anyway," teased Tifa, smiling at him impishly. 

Not knowing what to say, Cloud elected to say nothing. 

"Hey, Reeve, did you try reaching Yuffie again?" asked Cid. 

"Yes, but I still can't raise her. I get a carrier, I talk, but I can't hear anything," Reeve said. 

"I'm sure we'll do fine without her," muttered Barret. Tifa, hearing this, gave him the eye. He ignored it. 

The group fell into silence again. Surprisingly, it was Vincent who broke it. 

"Tell us of your nightmares, Cloud," he asked. 

Cloud tensed. "Why?" he demanded. 

"Just do it," snapped Vincent. 

"It's not something I enjoy talking about," said Cloud softly. 

"Actually, you may sleep better if you tell someone," Tifa pointed out. "Exorcize the demons of your soul, or something to that effect." 

Cloud hesitated, but eventually gave in. He began recounting his latest nightmare in which he mistook Aeris for Sephiroth. Hesitant at first, words were eventually tumbling out of his mouth on their own, as if they were alive. Finally, he was done with his tale and fell silent. Nobody talked for quite a while. Tifa was staring at him, a mixture of horror and pity easily visible on her face. 

"I had no idea it was so bad," she whispered. 

Nobody answered her. They all sat there in silence. Finally, Cloud sighed and tried to smile convincingly, but failed to convince anyone.. 

"Well, I don't know about all of you, but I'm going to see whether Tifa was right," he said. "See if I do sleep any better after talking about it." And with that, he got up and left for the inn. The others stayed, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Tifa got up to join Cloud, possibly to talk to him before he went to sleep, and the others followed to the inn to check in for the night. 

* * * 

When Tifa was done chatting with Cloud, having successfully cheered him up, she lingered a bit at the bar, relaxing, a mild drink in front of her. She was wondering if there was anything she could do about those nightmares. But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed there was nothing she could do. As far as she could tell from her conversations with him, Cloud's nightmares were due to some sort of guilt. He felt guilty of having been too weak to stop Sephiroth. He knew that, rationally, there was nothing he could have done. However, in his heart, he felt he should have been able to stop him, at the very least by not giving him the Black Materia and starting this whole mess. As the lack of sleep took its toll, he came to believe that in his mind as well, doubting his memories, and, even more distressing, that of his friends. 

_Why does he feel so guilty about what happened to her?_ wondered Tifa. _Because he loved her? Did he ever love me, besides that boyhood crush he had in the past?_ The thought made her cringe. She swallowed the rest of her drink in a single gulp, grimacing despite the fact that it was actually quite mild, and then walked to the inn's counter to check in. 

There, the owner, a fortyish, burly woman, looked rather embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Miss Lockheart, but there are no more rooms left," she said. 

"None at all?" asked Tifa, mortified. 

The owner shook her head. "'Fraid not. There's some folks ever from Corel for some mining operation of some sort, and they're taking most of the rooms. Your friends had to share. I'm afraid you'll have to do the same. I believe Mr. Strife has a double bed room. Maybe you can ask him. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience," she said, looking genuinely sorry about it. 

After a heated internal debate between her shyness and her common sense, she finally took the key the owner was offering her. Without a word, she climbed the stairs to Cloud's room, mentally prepping herself for the rather unusual request she was going to have to make. Despite all that mental preparation, she hesitated at Cloud's door, and considered just giving back the inn owner the key and sleeping in the Highwind. She resisted the urge to turn and run, thinking that after all she and Cloud had been through, there should be no problem at all in sleeping in the same room. Even if there was only one bed for both of them, this time. 

But why was she getting cold feet? 

As she stood there, debating with herself, the door opened, and out came Cloud, hair disheveled, wearing only pants and boots. He looked rather pleased to see her there. 

"Tifa! Uh, what are you doing in front of my room?" he asked. 

"Well, uh... It's rather complicated, but... I was wondering if... That is, whether I could..." she stammered. 

"Come on, Tifa, out with it!" he snapped. 

"... sleep in your room." she finally managed to answer. _God, that sounds **so** unlike what I meant!_ she thought, horrified of what he would think. 

Cloud's eyebrows shot up. "Huh?" he said intelligently. 

"Well, there's no rooms left in the inn, so I have to share with someone," she explained. "Apparently, you have a double bed?" she asked hopefully. 

"Oh," he answered. Was that a trace of disappointment she could hear in his voice? Probably just her imagination. "Sure, Tifa. Come on in." 

"Thank you," she said, genuinely grateful. 

Cloud held the door, motioning her inside. He closed the door, then turned to Tifa. "Well, which side of the bed do you want?" 

"Oh, I don't care," replied Tifa immediately. 

"OK, so I'll pick the right, you take the left," suggested Cloud. 

With that settled, Cloud took off his pants and boots and, clad in underwear, slid under the covers after blowing the flame of his candle off. Tifa stripped to her underwear as well, checking once in a while to see whether Cloud was peeking (and wondering whether she should really be hoping that he were peeking), slid under the covers as well and blew the flame of her own candle. 

"Good night, Cloud," she said. 

"G'mphifa," he replied, already dozing. 

_Fate is bizarre,_ Tifa mused while slowly falling asleep. _Here I am, in my hero's bed, something I have dreamt of for a while... and we're both going to sleep as if we were just brother and sister. Where did I go wrong?_

* * * 

_Cloud was standing some distance from Aeris. Only, she was not praying; she was crying in front of the Lifestream, her back to him. She felt she had done a terrible evil. Cloud knew what that evil was, of course, everyone knew. Why couldn't he remember it? He did not know. But he knew the only way to fix this was..._

_Aeris felt his presence, turned around to look at him. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She did not dare look at him. She asked him to kill her._

_Cloud did not realize that he would grant her wish until the sword---**his** sword--was whistling down towards her._

Cloud cried out, sat up, and placed his head between his hands, for the third time in two days. Tifa, next to him, was woken up by the scream and his sudden movement. Still groggy, she sat up and laid her hand on Cloud's shoulder trying to reassure him. 

"Was it bad?" she asked him softly. 

Cloud only nodded, still shaken by the dream's last image. Eventually, he composed himself and managed to talk, although he was trembling. "It doesn't make sense... This time, no Sephiroth. Just her and me. She asks me to kill her, and I do," he said. "It doesn't make sense..." he repeated, voice drifting off. 

Tifa tried to comfort him, hugging him and saying nonsense phrases like "It'll be all right." Eventually, Cloud calmed down, but Tifa could see he was still very much shaken. He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 

"Am I losing it, Tifa?" he asked, fear in his voice. "Am I slowly going insane?" 

"I don't know, Cloud," she replied softly. "I just don't know. But what I do know is that I'm here. I'm here, Cloud. I won't let you down. I didn't in the past, and I won't in the future. Remember that!" 

He shuddered one last time and seemed to piece himself together. His back straightened. He looked at her, very serious. "Thanks, Tifa. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here. I... I can't thank you enough for all you've---" 

"Shh," she shushed him, putting her index finger to his lips. "It's all right. You don't need to say anything." 

Cloud nodded. He then looked away, seemingly embarrassed. Finally, he got up, a slight smile on his lips, his eyes betraying nothing of his state of mind. The old Cloud was back with her. "What do you say we go downstairs to eat with the others?" he asked. 

"I say that's a good idea," she replied. _He's still holding on,_ she thought. _He's still trying to appear unhurt, even after I've seen in how bad a shape he truly is. Can I really blame him?_ she wondered. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	8. A Glimpse Of Hope Is Uncovered

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  6. A glimpse of hope is uncovered 

Nanaki woke up next to the now extinguished fireplace in his room, his massive head resting on an open book. He momentarily had trouble remembering where he was. Then, he remembered, and also remembered which paragraph he had felt asleep on. He re-read it. And re-read it again. Together with some data he had taken in another book, that paragraph held the solution not only to the Shinra enigma, but also to Cloud's nightmares. He hurriedly jotted down some notes, then leaped out of the room and made his way to the inn's bar. 

When he entered, he realized how late he had slept. AVALANCHE's other members were all up and about. Barret, sitting with Vincent and Reeve, was recounting an extremely convoluted story on how the first incarnation of AVALANCHE had been born; Reeve seemed captivated, but Vincent, as usual, looked like he didn't care. Cloud, Tifa and Cid, the three current leaders of AVALANCHE, were sitting on another table, arguing over a large sheet of paper. They were planning an offensive on Midgar in case they could not stop Shinra in time. Cloud looked worse than the previous night, although he was making a valiant try at hiding it. Tifa looked extremely worried, although she, too, was trying to hide her feelings. 

Vincent saw Nanaki come in, and immediately walked to him. He stared intently. "What have you found?" he asked. Everybody else fell silent, waiting for Nanaki to speak. 

"I have found what the Shinra are looking for," said Nanaki. He paused dramatically. 

"I have also found a way to bring Aeris back to us," he continued, his voice as calm as ever. 

Everyone stared at Nanaki, silent, incredulous. Finally, Barret expressed what was surely on everybody's mind at the time. "Are you sure you're still sane, Red? 'Cause if you are, I sure am not! I'm hearing stuff about bringing back Aeris!" 

Nanaki smiled. "You are perfectly sane, my friend, and I believe I am as well. However, I agree that some things need to be explained. 

"First, let me start with the case of the Shinra. As you all know, Mako reactors extract Mako energy out of the Planet. They do so with minimal power required once they are jump-started. However, jump-starting one requires the full output of a single reactor for several weeks. Without such a jump-start, the reactor will `run dry', like the one Tifa visited in Nibelheim. The logical question would be, how did they jump-start the first reactor? 

"Well, it seems the Cetra did. 

"Of course, originally, Mako reactors were not meant to be a power source used to the extent Shinra used them. The first one was built by the Cetra in an attempt to condense Mako energy for easy transport. Or so Shinra scientists speculated. They had no idea why the Cetra wanted to condense Mako energy. My guess is that they were hoping to unlease all that concentrated power in a single blast to help the Planet heal the crater. 

"In any case, the virus killed the Cetra responsible for the reactor, and the Shinra found the reactor several centuries later. The Shinra duplicated its technology and used it to jump-start their own reactors. However, they kept the original reactor intact, originally for study and eventually because it wasn't cost-effective to destroy it." 

"So that primitive reactor is still in service?" asked Reeve. 

"Most likely, it is," continued Nanaki. "Even if it isn't, this is of little consequence. You see, the Cetra built the reactor in a very special place. In that place, the Planet discards life energy that is unused, say that was destined to extinct species or dead-ends in the evolutionary tree. Since the Planet always manufactures a small amount of energy, this venting is totally natural. It was therefore easy for the Cetra to harness that discarded energy into a Mako reactor to help the Planet. It would be equally easy for the Shinra to do so as well." 

"But they'd need to construct a full reactor, wouldn't they?" asked Reeve. 

"Not necessarily," answered Nanaki. "They could store sufficient energy in a capacitor of some sort and use that to restart one of the Midgar reactor. They could then start the other ones, although that would take several weeks." 

Nanaki stopped speaking. Everyone fell silent, except Cloud, who asked Nanaki, "What about Aeris?" 

Nanaki nodded. "I was coming to that. You see, as a Cetra, Aeris had a special relationship with the Planet. The texts about that are quite obscure, and the Shinra had little interest in that. However, I did find the following verses." Nanaki paused, then began to chant: 

> _If one of the chosen is to die,_  
_At the place where life flows out,_  
_It is possible to channel that life back into a chosen_  
_Simply by focusing life._

"That's pretty lousy poetry," Cid observed. 

"It probably sounds better in Cetra," countered Tifa. 

"I wouldn't know, as that translation was done by a Shinra scientist," admitted Nanaki. "In any case, it seems that if we can find that location they mention, the place `where life flows out,' and focus the Mako energy to bring Aeris back from the Lifestream." 

"Where in the world is that place?" asked Barret. 

"My guess is that it's the same place where the Shinra found the Cetra's reactor. As for the Mako energy, the reactor is more than capable of focusing it with enough control." 

"So that's all there is to it? We just find the place and go?" asked Cloud, eager to believe it. 

"It is. And the Shinra carefully documented where it is. I can very easily find it from the Highwind's navigation system," concluded Nanaki. 

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Cloud, standing up so fast he tipped his chair over. "Let's go!" And with that, he ran out towards the Highwind with a speed no one would have thought him capable of a few minutes before. His friends got up almost as quickly, following him to the Highwind. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	9. A Miracle--

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  7. A miracle--- 

The Highwind was flying towards a spot which its on-board map insisted was devoid of anything but water. Of course, Cid knew otherwise; Nanaki said there was a small island there, and he could believe his friend. It's wasn't the first time the Highwind map proved to be inaccurate, after all. Cid was piloting the ship carefully, following the instructions of Nanaki, who was sitting right next to him, book open. While in the middle of a maneuver, the two beings would chat about this thing and that, mostly on different possibilities available to focus Mako energy with the reactor. 

Most of the other members of AVALANCHE were sitting in the middle of the cockpit, planning the approach to the island. There was the chance they'd encounter Shinra troops at some point in the process. So they hashed out different strategies, but the effort was half-hearted. They knew the Shinra would be no match for them. The mood was very cheerful in the cockpit, and Cloud was the most cheerful of the lot. It was as if he had lost ten years of age: he was joyous, happy, and even laughed at Barret's stupid jokes. 

Tifa, however, was not as cheerful as the others. Vincent suddenly realized she was missing from the group. He decided to look around for her, pretty sure of what was making her wish to be alone. He got out of the cockpit, unnoticed, then walked to the ops room. She wasn't there. He climbed up to the bridge, and there she was, hair floating in the wind, looking at the endless ocean in front of her. He approached her. 

"Nice view," he said, softly so that she would not jump out of her skin. 

"Yes," she replied absently. She automatically brushed off a lock of her hair that had been floating in her face. 

"You're feeling ambivalent about bringing her back," said Vincent. It was not a question; rather, it was a statement. 

Tifa looked down. She stayed like that for some time. Finally, she looked up at Vincent, a sad smile tugging her lips up. "Yes. I know I should be happy. She was my friend, as well as everyone else's. I was so sad when Sephiroth killed him. And I am happy that we'll bring her back. But at the same time, I'm sad, as if I'm losing someone." 

"Cloud," Vincent said. 

Tifa looked away. "When Aeris was still with us, I always had the feeling she was coming on to him," she explained. "I kept telling myself it was nothing, but I could just feel how she had Cloud's full attention when she came in the room he was in. He was always looking out for her. Was it foolish of me to expect he'd do the same for me?" 

"No," Vincent assured her. "But consider: she looked vulnerable, and was the weakest hand-to-hand fighter among us. You, yourself, are second only to Cloud. He probably felt she needed protection more than you did," Vincent concluded. 

"Probably," replied Tifa. She looked at the ocean again. "Vincent..." she hesitated. 

Vincent said nothing, waiting for her to say the rest. 

"... You always know how I feel, no matter how much I try to hide it. Do you know how he feels?" she finally asked. 

"No," answered Vincent. "He hides it well, almost as well as I do. He looks like he doesn't care about much. But his scars remain deep, even though you made him whole again two years ago. He may just be afraid to show himself to the world." 

"But how come he's not afraid to show how happy he is that Aeris will be coming back to us?" she asked so softly that Vincent barely heard the question. 

"I don't know," replied Vincent. Then, "Do you wish to be left alone for a moment?" 

"Yes, please," requested Tifa. "I need to sort out my feelings." 

"Very well," said Vincent. Then he left. 

Tifa looked at the ocean for some time. Then, she heard steps behind her. She did not turn around to look. 

"Tifa," Cloud said. 

"Hey, Cloud," she replied, without much enthusiasm. 

He walked to her side, looking at the ocean with her. He stayed silent for a time. Finally, he said, "Nice view." 

Despite herself, Tifa smiled. Why was that the only thing men said when they wanted to speak to a lone woman looking out at the distance? "Yes, it's a very nice view," she found herself replying. 

Cloud looked at her with curiosity. "Is anything wrong?" he finally asked. His face showed genuine concern. 

_Since when do you care?_ Tifa almost replied, but she bit her tongue before it shot out. That would not be fair to him. Instead she tried to change subject. "We're going to bring her back, aren't we?" 

"Of course," Cloud assured her. 

"We'll finally be rid of the last of the scars Sephiroth left us," she mused. 

"I hope you're right about that," Cloud said grimly. 

Tifa looked at him sharply. "What? Do you know something I don't?" she asked. 

Cloud shook his head. "No. Just that sometimes, I think... He hurt us so much, his ghost will always haunt us." 

Tifa looked at the ocean yet again. "Well, if even if it does, we'll beat it, won't we?" she said. "We did once, and we'll do it again." 

Cloud said nothing for a while. Then he looked straight at her, making eye contact. "Tifa, remember what I said about making it up to you when I felt better? Well, I---" he stopped abruptly, breaking eye contact, looking somewhere in the ocean. 

"Say, isn't that the island we're looking for?" he asked her, pointing. 

She looked at the spot he was pointing at, and, squinting, finally managed to see what he was talking about. It was a small, elongated island, roughly shaped like a four-pointed star. "I believe it is! Let's tell the others!" she answered, inexplicably excited. 

They both scrambled down the stairs, Cloud in lead. They burst into the cockpit. 

"Land ho!" bellowed Cloud. Everybody turned. Cid looked at Cloud, eyebrows raised. Cloud ran to the starboard window and pointed. Cid looked and looked, and finally saw it. 

"Well, I'll be... That's it! We're there, folks!" Cid exclaimed. There was cheering among AVALANCHE. All except Reeve, who was looking through a pair of binoculars. 

"Wait, something's wrong!" said Reeve. The cheering cut short. Everybody pressed around Reeve, hoping he'd give up the binoculars, but he ignored them. Finally, after looking some more, he said: "I can see the reactor, but... There's smoke coming out." 

"Is it Mako vapor?" asked Barret. 

"I don't think so... Wait. That's fire!" Reeve let go of the binoculars, a far away look on his face. 

"The reactor's burning!" he said finally. 

What followed was a cacophony of outraged cries, questions and curses. "That means Shinra was here before us!" "Damn! We're too late again!" "What do we do now?" "#@$!% Shinra!" 

"May I have your attention, please!" said Cloud loudly, but very calmly. The others stopped talking. "Maybe the Shinra are still here. We must go down there and check. Even if they're gone, maybe the reactor's not too badly damaged yet, and then we could still use it to bring Aeris back. We're not sure until we're down there, you hear? So let's go!" 

They all looked at one another, then every member of AVALANCHE nodded in unison. Cid started the landing cycle, while everybody else was getting ready for combat, snapping Materia orbs in place. As soon as the Highwind touched down, Cloud yelled "Go!" and the team moved. Going their separate way at first, they all converged on the Mako reactor. They all made it without incident, and soon, the reactor was surrounded. There, the team realized two things. 

First, the reactor was beautiful. Nothing like the cold, metallic structures Shinra had built. It was made of shell and crystal, a majestic, scintillating structure that reflected the light from the fire that consumed it in beautiful, kaleidoscopic patterns that had a quasi-hypnotic quality. 

Second, it was obviously a total loss. The flames had started from inside, and what glimpses Cloud could get of the interior showed only melted crystal. 

No one said anything for a while. Everybody felt depression at having been defeated by the Shinra. Not only they had the power to start their Mako reactors now, but they had also, by destroying the reactor, dashed all hopes of bringing Aeris back. 

Or had they? "This is not as bad as it looks," Nanaki started. "We can still---" he managed to say, before being interrupted by a terrible roar. 

Everyone turned, weapon at ready. Cloud heard Tifa gasp, and had to suppress a cry of surprise himself. 

Standing before AVALANCHE was some sort of giant octopus-like beast. It had a bunch of tentacles with a bulbuous head sitting on top of them. Spikes covered the creature's greenish skin, and eyes covered the head in seemingly random arrangements. 

Reflexively, the hand-to-hand combatants ran towards the beast, weapon in front of them. Cloud was in lead. He dodged the tentacles coming his way, and sliced one of them with a quick sweep of his sword. The appendage fell to the ground and disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Cloud moved to another tentacle, but was stopped by another that grabbed him from the back. He felt the sting of the spikes digging into his elbow; then, suddenly, his whole arm felt as if it were on fire. He instinctively sliced the tentacle, which vanished, as before. He cast Esuna on his wound, neutralizing the poison. When he looked back up, he stared, incredulous. The tentacle he had just sliced was growing back! He got out of its way in the nick of time. This was not going to be easy... 

Weaving between the deadly appendages, Cloud tried to join his friends. He quickly ran into Tifa, who had had the same idea. Together, they made their way towards Cid and Nanaki's last known position, smashing and slicing any tentacles blocking the way and moving quickly away before they could grow back. They finally found Cid, who was valiantly trying to keep tentacles off of a seriously wounded Nanaki. Tifa cleared the area by casting an Ice spell, and they all ran out of the sea of tentacles. The monster followed, but it was slower than the running members of AVALANCHE. 

Seeing what had just happened, Reeve, Barret and Vincent opened fire on the creature's head. But the bullets would only lodge themselves in the creature's flesh, doing little damage. Reeve tried casting a Fire spell on the beast's head, but this had no effect. Frowning, Barret tried Bolt, and Vincent tried Ice. Still no effect. 

"What do we do now?" asked Reeve. 

"Looks like magic only works on the tentacles," observed Barret. "We'll have to get the head hand-to-hand." 

"How can we do that?" pointed out Reeve. "There are too many tentacles in the way!" 

Cloud and the other joined the long distance fighters, breathing hard from their run. 

"Suggestions?" asked Cloud. 

"I think only physical attacks harm its head," said Barret. "Maybe one of us can clear the way---" 

"Tried that," interrupted Tifa. "Too many tentacles. We'd have to destroy a whole side at once!" 

"Then, allow me," said Vincent, producing an Ultima Orb. 

"Very well. Let's do it in three stages, with Vincent casting Ultima to let us in and out of the tentacles," proposed Cloud. "Cid and I come from the right, trying to wound it. Cid keeps going left, and I'll jump back to the right. Then, Red and Tifa come in from the left and try to make things worse for the beast. Finally, I come in from the right again and try to slice the head in two. Everyone gets a few hits, but don't get carried away. Make sure you get out before tentacles can grab you. Any questions?" 

"Yeah," Cid piped in, trying to sound outraged. "How come _you_ get to finish that thing, and not me?" 

"I have a bigger weapon than you do," replied Cloud with a half smile. The men laughed, and Tifa rolled her eyes. "Any _intelligent_ questions?" 

No one had any. 

"All right," said Cloud. "Let's get in position. Tifa, Red, be careful. Vincent, wait for my signal. Let's do it!" 

Cid and Cloud moved to the right of the creature; Nanaki and Tifa, to the left. Screaming at the top of their lungs, Cloud and Cid charged. They were about to be forced back by the sea of tentacles, when Cloud yelled, "Now, Vincent!" 

Vincent complied immediately, casting Ultima, destroying all tentacles on the right side of the beast. Cid and Cloud charged at the monster's hideous head. Cid managed to gouge its side, and then plunge his spear deep in the beast. It came out on the other side, so he ran to grab it and kept running to get out of the tentacles. Cloud, meanwhile, planted his sword in the head and, with a spectacular back flip, sliced the sword upward, leaving a great gash. To let Cid out on the left, Vincent cast Ultima once again. 

Nanaki and Tifa immediately moved in, passing Cid, and charged at the head as well. Nanaki attacked Cloud's gash, biting the exposed interior. Tifa gave several great blows next to him, trying to widen the wounds of the creature. She finally grabbed Nanaki, and they both ran towards the newly regrown tentacles on the right. To let them out, Vincent cast Ultima one last time. 

Cloud moved in, passing Tifa and Nanaki. Leaping high in the air, he brought his sword down in the large wound Tifa and Nanaki had worsened. The sword split the monster's head in two. The monster died immediately, its tentacles going limp. It didn't even emit a sound, which gave the whole tableau an eerie quality. However, black gel from the interior of the head splashed out, covering Cloud with black goo. 

It was over. Besides Nanaki's wound to his flank, Cid's wounded pride at not being the one to finish the beast, and Cloud being covered in black goo, the victory had come very cheaply for AVALANCHE. 

"That was easy," remarked Reeve. 

"Well, there's no sissy monster that can stand all of us together," explained Barret. 

Cloud, Tifa, Cid and Nanaki walked over to them. Every one of them was grinning, except Nanaki. 

"Hey, Spike!" bellowed Barret. "How about washing yourself before comin' closer?" 

Cloud nodded and plunged in a nearby pond. He came out after half a minute, rid of most of the goo. His grin was gone. 

"What's wrong?" asked Tifa. 

"I just remembered what we came here for... and how we got here too late," replied Cloud somberly. 

The group's good mood immediately vanished, and grins disappeared as everyone grew serious again. 

"Don't despair yet," said Nanaki, interrupting everyone's somber thoughts. "Before I was rudely interrupted by that monstrosity, I was going to explain another way of bringing Aeris back." He paused, taking a deep breath. 

"All we need, after all, is sufficient Mako energy. The reactor would have been ideal, because it was designed to focus ambient energy. However, there are other ways of doing this. We can use our own Materia Orbs." 

"Why did you want to use the reactor at all, then?" asked Cid. 

"Partly because it's easier to control," replied Nanaki. "But the main reason is that any Materia used in the process will shatter as too much Mako energy is injected in them. Because we have few Orbs, the process will require all of them, and thus we'll be without Materia." 

"That means if we save her now, we won't have any Materia on hand to take on the Shinra," Reeve pointed out. 

"Correct," said Nanaki. "Furthermore, we can't take them on now and hope to be able to bring her back later. You see, as time passes, Aeris' life energy becomes less and less distinct from the surrounding Lifestream. Thus, it becomes harder and harder to focus her energy. I don't know how good my estimate is, but from what I can infer from the texts, we have precious little time before she dissipates beyond recovery. Between 3 and 4 hours, I think." 

"Takes two hours to get to Midgar," muttered Cid. "Shit!" he cursed. 

"Can't we just grab some young Materia in Mideel and use that?" asked Tifa. 

"Unfortunately, we can't," sighed Nanaki. "Only mastered Materia has enough power to focus the energy around here." 

"Reeve, try raising Yuffie again," ordered Cloud. 

Reeve complied, taking out his cell phone. He listened for a moment, then shook his head. "Still can't raise her." 

Cloud looked down, weighing the options. Then, "All right. I think we should try to bring Aeris back, despite what it'll do to our Materia. I think she's more precious than all the Materia in the world, and she's certainly more so than the dozen orbs we have. We'll have to hope we can get hold of Yuffie and get her to lend us the Materia we gave her. Hopefully, before the Shinra kick-start their reactor. Agreed?" 

Everyone vehemently agreed. 

Cloud turned to Nanaki. "Let's do it. What must we do?" 

"Someone must act as focus," said Nanaki. "That has to be me, since I'm the only one who can read the incantations. Everybody else, take two orbs in each hand and stand in a circle, holding hands with your neighbor. Therefore, each pair of hands hold two orbs. Think of Aeris, what she looked like, but also who she was. Her thoughts, her dreams, how she spoke, how she moved. The more precise the image, the more chance we have to find her in the Lifestream." 

Everyone complied, placing themselves in a circle. Nanaki produced his notes and began to chant. Nothing happened for several minutes. Then, suddenly, the air around Nanaki started to shimmer with a pale green glow. The glow intensified slowly, then Mako mist started to form. It became denser and denser until it became difficult for everyone to breathe. Then, with a crackle of energy, the mist started to coalesce in a vaguely human form. 

Nanaki ordered everyone to think of Aeris as intensely as possible. 

Barret thought of the girl who had saved Marlene, despite the fact that by doing so, she placed herself in great danger... 

Nanaki thought of the woman he had terrified in Hojo's lab, but who forgave him without as much as a second thought... 

Cid thought of the girl who had spoken harshly to him over his treatment of Shera and who, in the end, had been right... 

Vincent thought of the child whose innocence had given him hope and the will to go on... 

Reeve thought of the poor Cetra over whom so much blood had been spilled and whom, despite all the harm people had done to her, had saved those people in a selfless act of courage that ultimately cost her her life... 

Tifa thought of the one she had wanted to love like a sister but who she considered a rival until it was too late... 

And Cloud was thinking of the woman he had let be killed, of the one he had failed to save. One more failure in his life, but by far the costliest... Aeris, who had persisted in following him through the slums, disregarding all risk... Aeris, who had slowly, carefully tried to pry him out of the walls he had built around his soul... 

A deafening boom was heard, and everyone could feel the energy of the Materia flow out between their fingers. The Orbs grew intensely hot, nearly burning their hands. But they all held on. Then, suddenly, the flow of energy ceased, and the Materia crumbled, turning into a light powder that the next wisp of wind blew away. Nanaki let out a howl, then fainted. A young woman with brown hair was lying in front of him, naked, face down on the grass. 

Cloud walked to the young woman slowly, as if in a dream. He turned her over carefully to see whether she was breathing. She was. He saw her face. The full, delicate lips; the pale skin; the small, upturned nose. Although the telltale green eyes were still hidden behind her eyelids, there was no doubt about it: it was Aeris! 

"Vincent, your cape," urged Tifa. Vincent nodded, took off his cape and covered Aeris' naked form with it. Then, he walked to Nanaki, helping him up as he was recovering. 

Cloud took Aeris in his arms, carefully, reverently, as if she were made of the most precious and most fragile of crystal. Tears of joy were wetting his cheeks. He looked around to his friends, who were grinning and crying openly, without shame. 

"Thank you all," Cloud said, his voice trembling from the emotion of the moment. "We've done it. She's back with us. The last trace of Sephiroth's madness has been erased. Let's get out of here and find her a place where she can rest." 

"What about the Shinra?" asked Reeve, although he didn't sound really eager to do much about them. 

"Shinra will wait," Cid replied sternly. 

Suddenly, a deep rumble could be heard, coming from far below the island. It lasted several seconds. It stopped, then started again, but this time, the ground was shaking violently in time with the noise. The points of the island's "star" began to crumble. 

"The island's collapsing! Everyone, to the Highwind!" shouted Cloud. 

Everybody ran to the airship, Barret carrying Nanaki, the ground crumbling around them. Cid scrambled to the cockpit and gunned the engines. The airship took off barely in time, the whole island disappearing underwater instants after it took off. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	10. --That Turns Into A Nightmare

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  8. --That turns into a nightmare. 

Being the closest town, Mideel was chosen as the place where Aeris would recover. It had changed considerably since AVALANCHE's last visit. First, it had moved west of its original spot. Obviously, they couldn't rebuild the city where the Lifestream had erupted. The new Mideel had pretty much the same layout, minus the bridge over the entrance of the town. The local merchants had finally rebuilt their stocks, and the hospital was there, as before. Cloud walked to the latter, carrying Aeris in his arms, his friends following. He pushed the door with his foot and entered. 

"You again?" said the doctor, who was presently sorting bottles on a shelf. He frowned. "And who is this young lady?" 

"This young lady, Doc, is Aeris, the last of the Cetra," answered Cloud. The doctor's eyes got wide. "Or at least, she will be, as long as you make sure she stays alive," Cloud amended. 

"Put her on this table," said the physician, all business now. Cloud complied. The doctor quickly ascertained her condition, checking her breathing, heartbeat and blood pressure. He turned to Cloud and the other AVALANCHE members, looking relieved. "She's suffering from extreme fatigue, but it's nothing a night's rest won't fix." 

There was a collective sigh of relief at the news. 

"But if she's to get any sleep," the physician added, "you'll all have to leave. So, everybody out!" 

"You'll tell us if there's anything new?" Reeve asked anxiously. 

"Yes, yes, yes," the doctor assured. "Now, out!" 

* * * 

Most AVALANCHE members had taken off, invading the Materia shop. Although they knew they wouldn't find mastered Orbs, it was still better than nothing. 

Cloud, however, had decided to pass on the shopping spree. He didn't want to prepare for a battle now. He didn't want to think of the Shinra. For the first time in years, he felt truly, completely at peace. He didn't want to spoil that feeling. So, he just sat on a hill overlooking the village, admiring the sunset. Mideel being in the southern hemisphere, it was summer here, while it was winter in Corel. The summer's sun looked gorgeous, setting the whole sky aflame in oranges and purples. After looking at the sunset for a while, he turned to the village, glancing down. He saw Tifa, looking very small from his high point of view, as she emerged from the Materia shop. He waved. She looked up and waved back. She walked up the hill and joined him. He motioned her to come closer and sit beside him. She did, looking uncomfortable for some reason. Cloud paid no attention. 

"Now, _that_ is a nice view," he said, enjoying the last few minutes of sunshine. Tifa did not reply. 

"How did the shopping go?" Cloud asked her. 

"Okay, I guess," she replied wearily. "They don't have anything powerful, but it will have to do, I suppose." 

"I'm not really worried," Cloud stated. 

"Well, I am," Tifa snapped. "That big machine back in the Nibelheim reactor gave us a hell of a time," she pointed out. 

Cloud shrugged. "Y'know, when I fought that thing, I was too tired to cast anything but the weakest Bolt spell," Cloud confessed. "I still managed to vanquish it rather easily. If you had had that Orb, you could have done the same. Keep in mind that every enemy, monster or machine, has a weakness." 

"That's true enough," admitted Tifa. "Still..." she trailed off. 

"Tifa," Cloud said sternly. Tifa turned to him. "It's not the first time we've faced ridiculous odds," he pointed out. "This time, they are better than usual. But you're worried, something I've never seen you being before. What, exactly, is making you uneasy?" 

Tifa hesitated. _What is it with me, anyway?_ she wondered. _I haven't felt like this since..._ since when? _Since Cait Sith gave us that damn fortune saying how **she** and Cloud were compatible,_ she finally realized. The memory tasted bitter. 

"I'm afraid of losing you," she whispered unintentionally. 

Cloud patted her arm. "Don't worry about me. I may not have gotten much sleep lately, but I'm sure I'll get some tonight," he assured her, misunderstanding her meaning. 

She smiled sadly at him. _He means well,_ she thought, _but he just hasn't a clue. I guess he won't until I manage to steel myself and say something. But now, it's too late, isn't it? Aeris is back with us..._

Oblivious to Tifa's growing sadness, Cloud looked up. "Look at the stars," he said in an awed whisper. "So many of them!" 

Tifa looked up as well. The sun had completely set, so stars were easily visible. They seemed particularly beautiful that night, and despite herself, Tifa was moved by the sight. 

"Y'know, all these years, I've looked at them and wondered why they are there, what they are for," said Cloud after some time of silent stargazing. "Cid tells me they are just like our own sun, and that there may be planets around them. Are there people like us out there? Do they have the same hopes, the same dreams? Do they understand their Planet better than we understand ours?" 

"How will we ever know?" asked Tifa. "Cid told me the closest star is so far, light takes years to travel there. Imagine how long a rocket would take!" 

"There may be more than one way to get there," Cloud speculated. 

Tifa could feel her mood lift despite herself. "Since when did you become so philosophically inclined?" she teased. 

Cloud laughed, then looked at her, mirth in his eyes. "Scary, huh? I don't know why I feel that way tonight. All I know is that, for the first time in more than seven years, I feel at peace." 

"Even with the Shinra around?" asked Tifa. 

"Even with the Shinra around," admitted Cloud. "I don't like the idea of them starting up that reactor, but we can probably convince them to shut it down again. I'm not too worried." 

They both stayed silent for a long time. Finally, Tifa stirred. "Maybe we should turn in for the night," she ventured. 

Cloud suddenly realized how tired he felt. He yawned, stretched, and nodded. "You're right. I should be sleeping already," he admitted. 

"Then, why are you still here?" admonished Tifa. 

"It's silly, but I'm afraid I'll lose that incredible feeling of peace if I go to sleep," Cloud explained. "I don't know whether I'll still feel like that tomorrow morning." 

_What can I say to that?_ wondered Tifa. "Well, you'll have to go to sleep eventually anyway, won't you?" she said aloud. "Why not do it now?" 

Cloud sighed. "You're right again." He got to his feet, and pointed to a squat building in the village. "That's the inn, right? Do you think they'll have enough rooms this time?" he said with an impish grin. 

"Oh, I made sure beforehand. They do," answered Tifa immediately. 

"Good. I don't think I'll have a nightmare again, but if I do, at least I won't wake you up this time," said Cloud. 

"Well, thank you, Cloud. For caring, I mean. That's very sweet," said Tifa gently. 

"Hmph," replied Cloud. He was more comfortable being the tough guy than the sweet friend. He offered his hand to Tifa, who gladly took it. He pulled her to her feet. She dusted herself, and was about to start down the hill when Cloud gave her a grin. "Race you to the inn!" he said, breaking into a dead run. She laughed, scrambling to pass him. He managed to make it to the door before her, but barely. Once inside, they both caught their breath, giggling like young children. 

"Well, that was a fun end to an eventful day!" said Cloud. He yawned again. "I'm pooped! I'm hitting the mattress." 

"Well... Good night, Cloud," said Tifa. 

"Good night, Tifa. Sweet dreams," said Cloud. They both left for their respective room. 

Best night of sleep Cloud had had in about ten years. 

* * * 

Cloud woke up, feeling great, dressed and walked downstairs to the inn's bar. He was hoping to meet Aeris on a full stomach. His wish would not be granted. 

The other members of AVALANCHE were all crammed around a single table in the bar. Everyone's attention seemed to be focused on a single person, but Cloud couldn't tell who it was, as Barret's bulk was blocking the view. Tifa saw Cloud come down the stairs and beckoned him, grinning. Barret turned around on his seat. 

"Yo, Spike!" he bellowed. "Look who's here, fresh out of the hospital!" with that, he moved to the side, letting Cloud see who he was talking about. 

A young lady clad in a pink dress rose from her chair, smiling demurly. Her brilliant green eyes made it impossible to mistake her for somebody else. 

"Aeris!" Cloud cried joyfully. He ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Don't do something like that to me again," he whispered in her ear. "Just don't. Ever." 

"I won't," she promised. "But please--don't squeeze so tight!" she breathed. 

"Oh! Sorry," Cloud apologized. He let her go and stood at arm's length. "It's so _great_ to see you again! I hadn't realized how much I missed you!" 

"I missed you too," said Aeris softly. "I missed all of you," she amended, more loudly. "I was so lonely in the Lifestream..." 

"Was there anyone you knew there?" asked Nanaki. 

"Oh, yes!" replied Aeris. "There was mother, and Zack... But I realized how little I had known both of them, compared to all of you." 

"Aeris," interrupted Vincent gravely. The young woman turned to him. "Did we do the right thing by bringing you back? Weren't you happier in there than here?" 

Aeris shook her head. "No, Vincent. You all did the right thing. I am happier to be here among friends, than I was in there." She smiled. "Afterlife is rather... overrated, I'm afraid." 

"Or maybe you cannot remember all of it," speculated Nanaki idly. "It may not be possible to map what you experienced to human sensorial memories." 

Everyone gave him a blank stare. "Huh? In English, Red!" said Barret, reflecting everybody's thoughts at that time. 

"Ahem," grunted Nanaki. "More simply, since human memory is largely tied to human senses, it may be that what she felt in the Lifestream cannot be translated to a form the human brain understands." 

"That's a rather long-winded explanation just to say that I'm happy to be here!" said Aeris, laughing. "You haven't changed much, Nanaki. Always so cerebral," she teased, scratching the beast behind his right ear. Nanaki purred unintentionally, as his kind always did when scratched right on that spot. 

"Do you think anybody has changed much in the two years you were... er..." Reeve said, stumbling on the last word. 

"Dead?" Aeris offered, smiling sweetly at him. 

"Uh, yeah," replied Reeve. He was cringing just from thinking about it, but Aeris seemed to take it in a rather matter-of-fact way. 

"You've all grown so much, become so powerful... And still, I---" she stopped in mid-sentence. She blanched, her smile vanishing. Her eyes rolled up, and she fainted. Cloud barely managed to catch her. 

"Aeris!" he screamed, anguished. The others gasped at the unexpected turn of events. After a short wait that seemed to go on forever to Cloud, she opened her eyes. However, she was not looking at her friends. She was looking very far away, beyond the inn's ceiling, towards something only she could see. 

"I'm all right... But the Planet... Someone's hurting the Planet..." she said, voice full of pain. 

Upon hearing this, Reeve immediately dialed a number on his cell phone. He spoke a series of words in the microphone that sounded like some sort of code. He listened intently for a couple of minutes. When he hung up, Cloud had made Aeris sit down, and Tifa was fetching the doctor. Reeve walked to the others, face grim. 

"It's the Shinra," he said somberly. "They've started the number one reactor." 

"But they had all eight running three years ago, and she never fainted from that!" protested Cid. 

"Aeris, are you all right?" asked Cloud. He was very worried. 

"No," she replied simply, a sad smile on her lips. "I'm unhurt, but nothing is right." She looked at Cloud straight in the eye and grasped his left arm hard, almost painfully so. "Cloud... I'm going to do something terrible. I can't help it. I can't stop it." She closed her eyes and grimaced. Her voice had a pleading quality Cloud had never heard from her. She opened her eyes, and when Cloud looked in them, he could almost physically touch her sadness and determination. "You must kill me," she concluded in a whisper. 

Cloud's reaction was immediate. He shrank back in horror. "How can you ask me to do that?" he said, nearly screaming. "Why do you want to die again?" 

"I don't," she said, incredible sadness in her voice. "But I must. If I live, countless innocents will lose their lives. As long as that reactor is running, everyone is in danger." 

"We're going to stop that reactor," asserted Cloud. 

"I don't know if I can hold on much longer..." said Aeris. Then, she started to cry, silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"Then we'll go immediately," Cloud commanded. He looked up at his friends. "Let's prep the airship. Someone must stay with her, and that someone can't be me." 

Everyone gave him a puzzled look from his last statement. Then, Tifa suddenly understood. "Your dreams..." she said, not daring to say more. 

Cloud nodded. Tifa noticed his face was very pale. "If she asks me to kill her again, I don't know whether I'll..." he trailed off, not daring to say more either. 

"Go," Tifa whispered, taking Aeris from his arms. "I'll stay." 

Looking immensely relieved, Cloud turned around and ran out. Still looking puzzled, all except Barret followed. Barret just stood there, looking at Tifa, his long time friend, his expression unreadable. Tifa raised an eyebrow quizzically. 

"I don't like leaving you alone with her," he said, answering her unasked question. "She doesn't look very stable. And I have a bad feeling about all this..." 

"Aw, come on, Barret!" Tifa interrupted. "Look at her! She can barely stand up!" 

"I guess you're right," conceded Barret. He nodded, silently urging her to take care of herself, and strode out. 

Tifa crouched next to Aeris. The Cetra was still sobbing quietly. Tifa smoothed her hair tenderly, almost as a sister would. "What terrible thing will happen if you live?" she asked softly. 

Aeris made a visible effort to stop crying. "I don't know!" she said. Her body was shaken by a violent sob, almost like a hiccup. "But all of Midgar would pay," she continued. 

"Can't you stop it?" asked Tifa. 

Aeris should her head vehemently. "No! I don't think I can stop myself from doing it! I'm too weak---" 

"You're the strongest willed person I know, Aeris," Tifa interrupted. "How can you be too weak to---" 

Aeris cut her off. "You don't understand!" she screamed. She had been speaking softly until then, and Tifa jumped at the change. Not only in volume, but in pitch, as her voice became almost shrill, hysteric. "I can't fight several thousand souls! Nobody can!" 

With that, she made a grab at Tifa's wrist and, before the other woman could react, she managed to pop a Materia orb out of one of Tifa's holders. She got up, jumping away from a surprised Tifa, and started to chant in a strange language, holding the Materia in front of her. 

Tifa, startled at first, quickly realized Aeris had snapped. She moved in, ready to hit Aeris on the side of her head. _Poor girl,_ she thought. _I must take care not to hurt her._ Tifa aimed her blow carefully, wanting to stun her while doing as little harm as possible. 

She never even got the chance to throw her fist forward. 

* * * 

Outside the inn, a very loud explosion was heard. Everyone was busy refueling the Highwind, but upon hearing a loud noise coming from the inn's general direction, they all turned, and froze in front of the tableau. The building that had been the inn in which they had spent the night was presently a pile of charred wood. Out of the rubble walked a pink clad figure. Reeve gasped, recognizing Aeris immediately. Not looking at her friends, she ran a couple of meters and then actually _took off_, flying towards the Lifestream crater near Mideel. 

Cloud was the first to snap out of it. "NO!" he screamed. He ran faster than he ever had before towards the remains of the inn. Nanaki was next to react, and despite his superior running speed, he had to push himself to catch up with the running man. As he was running, Nanaki readied some Restore Materia, fearing the worse. The others followed, running as fast as they could, but they were left behind very quickly. 

Cloud reached the charred rubble that had once been the inn. He started sifting through the burnt wood, looking for Tifa. He finally found her, face soot-streaked, the whole left side of her face covered with blood, her clothes almost destroyed. Her breathing was labored. Nanaki quickly sat next to her and cast Cure several times, grimacing from the effort. Tifa's wounds closed and her breathing became peaceful. Cloud held her hand in a tight grip, murmuring nonsense phrase like "what have I done" and "it's all my fault again." His eyes were moist and he seemed on the verge of crying. _Be strong, Cloud,_ Nanaki thought. _We need you able if we are to stop this insanity, whatever it is!_

Finally, as the rest of AVALANCHE managed to join Cloud and Nanaki, Tifa opened her eyes. Her face was very pale under the soot, but her eyes looked as alive as ever. Seeing this, Cloud shouted in joy and hugged her tight, laughing and crying at the same time from the relief he felt. Still dazed from her ordeal, Tifa hugged him back, enjoying the feeling of his hard, warm body pressing against hers. _I'm alive,_ she thought. _I really thought my time had come. I guess I'm tougher than I give myself credit for,_ she speculated. 

"Don't scare me like that," Cloud whispered in Tifa's ear. Then, relaxing his grip, he quickly checked whether glass shards had found their way under her skin. Luckily, she had been far from any window when the explosion had occurred. However, while checking for wounds, Cloud suddenly realized that what was left of Tifa's clothes were barely covering her. He blushed and looked away. 

"What is it?" asked Tifa. 

"Let's just say your clothes ain't what they used to be," mumbled Cloud, still trying very hard not to look at her. 

Tifa looked down and saw what he meant. Then, she did something unexpected. 

She laughed. 

A clear, resonant, pure laugh. Startled, Cloud tried to get her to tell him what was so funny, but she was laughing so hard that her explanation was unintelligible. Her friends were puzzled, wondering if Tifa, like Aeris, had snapped, but eventually, her hilarity became contagious. Soon, everyone was roaring with laughter. Even Vincent was grinning. 

Finally, Tifa's hilarity died down, and everyone else stopped laughing as well. 

"It's just so idiotic," explained Tifa when she could speak again. "Here we are, in the middle of a disaster, with a bigger one probably awaiting us, million of lives in danger, and everyone, including me, is worried about modesty!" She made a visible effort not to laugh again. "Why are humans so silly?" 

Cloud was blushing and not looking at her again. "Dunno. But weren't you the one who had Barret and I climb the stairs before you because you thought we were looking under your skirt when we stormed the Shinra building?" he pointed out. 

Tifa laughed again. "Yeah... Ain't life strange?" she mused. "Poor Cloud... you're really embarrassed! Vincent, may I borrow your cape again?" 

Vincent looked at her. He wasn't staring, but he was certainly not looking away either. "I know I'll regret this..." he said, unhooking his cape. 

"Pervert," Tifa admonished, smiling. "C'mon, I'm begging you." 

Vincent gave in and gave her his cape. She covered herself and stood. Cloud got up as well. 

"Well, this is all very nice," said Barret, "but what do we do about---" 

He was interrupted by a loud rumble coming from deep within the Planet. The ground shook. A huge crack opened close to the inn's remains. Everyone managed to jump away, except Cid, who lost his balance on the treacherous ground and fell in with a surprised cry. He managed to hold on to the ledge, but he could not get a solid grip as the dirt was too soft. His hands were slipping and he knew he was in for a long fall. _What a shame to end up buried alive after all the shit I've been through,_ he thought. 

But as he lost his grip, a big, dark-skinned hand grabbed his wrist. Barret, seeing Cid fall in the rift, had scrambled to the edge and rescued his friend. _I won't fail Cid like I failed Dyne!_ was the only thought in his head as he struggled to bring Cid out. Groaning and straining, he managed to prevent Cid from tumbling down the chasm long enough for the pilot to get a fresh, solid grip and pull himself out to safety. 

"Thanks," he said to Barret warmly. "What the hell was that?" he asked to no one in particular. 

"Could be a simple tremor," replied Nanaki. "But somehow, I don't think so." 

"Look!" Reeve yelled, pointing southward. 

Straining to see through the dust lifted by the tremor, everyone eventually managed to see what Reeve was pointing. It was big, blocky. The sun's rays reflected off its metallic surface, which was of a pure gold color. Even from their quite distant point of view, they could see the glowing red eyes of the creature. It moved ponderously, walking on its two huge legs. It was headed for Midgar. 

"Aw, shit!" cursed Cid. 

"Is this what I think it is?" asked Barret, again to no one in particular. 

"There's no doubt about it," whispered Vincent. He paused, hesitating to say it, as if it were a nightmare and saying the words would make it real. 

"It is a WEAPON." 

Everyone stood unmoving, silent, looking very, very grim. Everyone, that is, except Cloud, who was looking more scared than anything else. Tifa noticed and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He jerked away and turned towards her. She pulled her hand back, not understanding why he was acting this way. 

"What's the matter?" she asked him. "We faced several of those before, and we won! We'll win again!" 

Cloud shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's... When I saw you lying there, wounded, I tried to steel myself to do what I must and failed. I still wavered. You were all right, after all. But now that this thing's loose, there's no doubt in my mind. I must do it. But how can I? Why does it have to be _me_?" 

"Stop it, Cloud!" Tifa interrupted. "You're not making any sense!" 

He ignored her. "Why did she ask me? But I must do it... I owe her that much..." 

"Do what?" Tifa asked him, interrupting his monologue. Cloud looked at her, profound sadness in his eyes, but also resignation and determination. She guessed his answer a split second before he said it, and hoped with all her heart that she had guessed wrong. 

"Kill her." 

Tifa closed her eyes in chagrin. She had guessed right. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	11. Cracks In The Foundation Can Be Seen

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  9. Cracks in the foundation can be seen 

"Are you out of your mind?" was the most polite answer Cloud got from his friends. The other answers are definitely not fit for print. When the screams of outrage died down, Cloud still looked as determined as ever. 

"Listen to me!" Cloud said forcefully. "This is the fifth time I fail in my life! I failed entering SOLDIER; I'm the only one who paid for that. I failed Tifa and Zack; my only consolation is that Tifa survived. Because of my own shame and weakness, I gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth. Aeris died because of that. I gave Sephiroth the Black Materia once again. I nearly died for that, and the whole Planet could have been destroyed! Just now, I was not able to muster the courage to do what Aeris asked of me. As a result, millions will die at the hand of a WEAPON... because I was too weak to do what I _knew_ I had to do." He paused, catching his breath. "Aeris would not be in the state she is now if I hadn't failed at my duties as her bodyguard. She would be resting peacefully in the Lifestream if I had been strong enough to live with the fact that I had failed, but I was unable to accept it. Now, innocents will pay because of my damn _pride_, as Tifa almost paid with her life." 

"That's bullshit!" protested Cid. "All of us wanted her back! You didn't have to ask Nanaki to look for a way to do it--he did it on his own! The world doesn't revolve 'round you, bub--it's time you realized it!" 

Cloud shook his head sadly. "Even if you're right, it doesn't matter. The fact is, if she lives, millions will die. She won't allow it; I won't allow it. I must kill her, as she asked me to." 

"They won't die if we stop the WEAPON," Nanaki pointed out. "The WEAPON is the danger, not Aeris. The time we are spending arguing pointlessly here would be better served in stopping that monstrosity." 

"How do we know she won't summon another WEAPON once we deal with this one?" countered Cloud. 

"How the hell do you know she _will_?" questioned Barret. 

"I don't. She's the only one who knows. So, whatever I decide to do after, I need to find her first," asserted Cloud. 

"What about the WEAPON? Won't you help us fight it?" asked Tifa. 

Cloud gave her a sad smile. "You'll manage." With that, he turned and left, walking southward where Aeris had gone. 

"You're a damn fool!" roared Cid. He stomped off to the Highwind, fuming. The other members of AVALANCHE followed him. However, Tifa stayed behind, undecided. Barret noticed and told Cid. Ordering Barret to keep going, Cid ran back to the young lady. 

"You're just dyin' to go with him, don't you?" he asked her. 

Tifa nodded. "But I really should help the team against the WEAPON, shouldn't I?" 

"That'd be sensible," replied Cid. He paused, then said, "But it may not be right." 

"I don't understand," said Tifa with a puzzled frown. 

"Well, remember when Cloud was sick and the Lifestream erupted? The _sensible_ thing for you to do would have been to leave him there. Only one death instead of two, and he was a vegetable at the time, anyways. But you did the _right_ thing instead. And not only you didn't die, but you saved Cloud as well, curing him while you were at it! So, you see, sometimes the sensible thing is not the right thing." 

"So you're essentially telling me to follow my heart?" asked Tifa slowly. 

Cid nodded. "I'm not too good at doing that, understand... I only listen to what's _here_," he said, tapping his forehead. "I never could understand whatever _this_ was telling me," he continued, pointing to his heart. "Maybe I just don't know how to listen. But _you_ do. That's a rare gift. I guess what I'm trying to say is, a lot of people like me will do the sensible thing, but there are a few that will follow their heart. And of those few, there are none that have a heart as big as Tifa Lockheart's. People like that are those that make a difference." 

Despite the gravity of the situation, Tifa smiled at the compliment. "Well, whether you're right about my heart or not, what you said went straight to it! Still, I feel bad leaving you to fight..." she drifted off, a thoughtful expression on her face. 

"What is it?" asked Cid. 

To Tifa, it was almost as if she had found the missing piece of a 1000-piece puzzle. She suddenly knew, with absolute certainty, what she had to do. 

"Hey! What is it?" repeated Cid. 

"Cid! I have to go after him! Can you handle the WEAPON?" Tifa asked him hurriedly. 

"I wouldn't have given you that speech about listening to your heart if I couldn't! We'll be fine. After all, I've got to do the sensible thing---" 

"Right!" she cut him off. "I think I can save her!" Tifa said, turning around, sprinting southward. 

Cid was flabbergasted. "What? Who? How?" 

Tifa was already some fifty meters out. "Aeris! No time to explain how!" she yelled over her shoulder, not slowing down. "Hold off the WEAPON as long as possible! I don't know how long this will take! Good luck!" 

"Yeah, good luck to you too!" Cid yelled back, still wondering what Tifa was thinking of. He finally shrugged and strode off to the Highwind. 

"Get your sorry ass in here!" Cid heard Barret bellow from the Highwind's bridge. 

"Aw, pipe down, Wallace!" Cid yelled back as he ran to the airship's ladder. He scrambled to the bridge. Under the impatient stare of his teammates, he gunned the engines and lifted off. 

"Okay, everyone, this is it!" Cid practically had to scream the words over the noise of the engines. He was pushing them past the safety limit by a wide margin. "So, does anybody have any idea how the hell we're going to tackle that menace?" 

Reeve spoke up. "Don't you have some sort of air-to-ground missiles on this ship?" 

"Sure," replied Cid. "Somehow, I don't think that'll do much good, though," he warned. 

"Which means we'll have to get down and fight it," Nanaki pointed out. 

"I don't think that's very smart," countered Cid. "The last WEAPON we fought was hard to beat, even with mastered Materia. To fight one with stuff that just got off the shelves..." 

"We've grown stronger since," replied Nanaki. 

"True, but I'm still not goin' in there guns blazing unless we have some sort of plan," said Cid. 

"How about we go in and kick some WEAPON butt?" asked Barret. Everybody looked at him strangely. "Well, that's a plan, ain't it?" he protested. 

"I think Cid had something more sophisticated in mind," replied Vincent. 

"Times like this, I miss Spike and Tifa most," muttered Cid under his breath, as the other AVALANCHE members were arguing over what to do, exactly. No one seemed to have a clue. They were out-gunned, desperately so, and they all knew it. Still, they had to do their best, or everybody in Midgar would die. Cid let them blabber for a while, then raised his voice. "May I have everyone's attention, please!" 

Everyone fell silent and looked at him. 

"Look, folks, I know we're hopelessly out-gunned, but we must try and slow down that thing. I don't think we have a snowball's chance in hell to destroy it unless we get better Materia. Since no one has a good idea, I think we should do hit-and-run attacks on that horror and have Reeve keep trying to reach Yuffie. If we can't reach her, we go all out and hope we destroy it, although I think that would be a waste of lives. Does anyone have any better idea?" 

No one spoke. 

Cid sighed. "I was sort of hoping one of you did," he said wearily. "All right, then... let's go foolishly risk our lives again. Hang on to your hats, because we're OUTTA HERE!" he managed to say the last with some enthusiasm, driving the engines a further notch in the red. The engines seemed to groan in protest. _Come on, baby,_ Cid pleaded. _Just hold on a little longer, OK?_

* * * 

"There's the thing!" said Reeve, looking through his binoculars. "Turn 23 degrees starboard!" 

"Roger," said Cid, banking the airship. The WEAPON was walking ponderously, but it sure covered a lot of ground in a short time with its giant legs. Cid had pushed the Highwind quite hard to catch up. Presently, he was cursing Cloud Strife and his foolish notions of having to kill someone they had just brought back. 

However, now that the Highwind was closing on the WEAPON, Cid began doubting whether what he was doing was the right thing to do. Despite what he had said to Tifa earlier, he had no illusion about their chances. He knew that if they couldn't reach Yuffie and get some proper Materia back, it would mean certain death to AVALANCHE and the Midgar population. He had turned his back on Cloud in anger. But presently, the anger had evaporated, and Cid wondered whether it would have been best to stop Cloud from killing Aeris. It seemed such a waste to kill the sweet girl they had just resurrected... He shook his head. It was too late to do anything now. He could only hope that Tifa would reach Cloud in time to save Aeris. If it wasn't too late already. 

Cid forced himself to consider the task at hand. He was supposed to be leading this outfit, not to brood constantly! "All right, listen up!" he yelled over the groan of the overstressed engines. Everyone turned to him. "I'll open with a pass of missiles, and dodge any countermove this thing does. I want everybody to use long-distance attacks as we move away. Materia, cannon, anything you have." 

"What do you hope to achieve?" asked Nanaki. 

"If at all possible, we must try to topple this thing," Cid replied. "That will stop its progress and buy us more time." 

There were murmurs of assent. Everyone thought it was a good idea. 

"OK, then. Start firing on my signal," Cid ordered. With that, he closed the throttle slightly to slow down the airship and relieve the stress on its engines. Then, tipping the nose of the ship down, he aimed at the WEAPON's back. He waited until his range indicator flashed, then pressed the trigger. Two missiles detached themselves from the belly of the airship and sped towards the WEAPON. They hit, producing an intense flash that forced everyone to shield their eyes. The WEAPON was enveloped in smoke. Out of the smoke came several bolts of energy, aimed at the Highwind. 

"Hold on!" warned Cid as he started some complicated evasive maneuvers. The airship managed to dodge the bolts, but barely. The rest of AVALANCHE opened fire, unleashing bullets, lightning bolts, fireballs and ice crystals towards the WEAPON. One energy bolt from the WEAPON hit the ship with considerable force. The Highwind was not harmed, but the strength of the blow was enough to move the airship off-course. Cid cursed as he was fighting the controls to regain attitude. When he managed it, the WEAPON was out of range. All smoke around it had cleared. Reeve looked at it through binoculars and announced grimly that the WEAPON was still moving and seemed unscathed. 

"Well, we'll just have to try harder, I guess," said Barret, attempting to sound cheerful and failing. He, too, was sounding quite grim. 

Cid headed back to the WEAPON again, and the sequence of events repeated: missiles fired, energy bolts countered, AVALANCHE members pummeled the WEAPON with all they had until it was out of range and the smoke cleared. Twice more this sequence repeated. In the last pass, the Highwind's rudder was hit very badly, making the controls very sluggish. It was clear that this was not working: the WEAPON was still walking ponderously towards Midgar, unharmed and apparently unfazed by the attacks. Furthermore, the sluggish controls made it very difficult for Cid to maneuver in any way. He knew that if they went in the same way again, most energy bolts from the WEAPON would find their way to the airship. 

"Well, that's that," Cid conceded. "Looks like this wasn't such a good idea after all. And now, we can't try it again because the controls are busted. Anybody have a better idea?" 

"We're running out of time," Nanaki remarked. "We must try to topple it now!" 

"Agreed," said Vincent. "But how?" 

"I know I'm gonna regret this," muttered Cid. Then, louder, "All right, everyone, get your parachute! I'm gonna ram the legs!" 

Exclamations of surprise were heard around the group. 

"Cid, have you lost your mind?" asked Barret. "You know what this'll do to the Highwind?" 

"Yeah," Cid replied. "It'll scrap it. I'm out of my mind to even consider this... But there's no _time_ to figure out something else! Come on, get your 'chutes!" 

Everyone complied, hurriedly putting on the backpack that contained their parachute. Despite the gravity of the situation, Reeve couldn't help chuckling inwardly when he saw how massive Barret's backpack was; the 'chute had at least twice the surface of everyone else's. 

Cid lined up the Highwind and opened the throttle to full. He told everyone to "get the hell out," and blocked the steering wheel. As he prepared to jump, he looked back one last time at the bridge of his beloved ship, getting almost teary-eyed. Then, reminding himself of why he was doing this, his resolve firmed, and he jumped overboard, following the others. 

The Highwind collided with the WEAPON's left leg when Cid was halfway to the ground. The shock wave hit everyone hard, but the parachutes held. There was a loud crash. Barret cheered, but others held back. There was no way of knowing whether the crash had had the effect Cid had hoped for, as black smoke from the explosion of the missiles that had still been attached to the Highwind's underside was blocking the view. 

Finally, the smoke cleared as the members of AVALANCHE touched down. The WEAPON was down, its leg obviously damaged, crooked at an angle that made walking impossible. However, the creature was still progressing towards Midgar, using its arms to crawl across the ground. 

"Well, at least, we slowed it down," Reeve pointed out. 

Cid didn't look too pleased. "I was sort of hoping to get rid of the thing. You know, make the loss of my baby worth it. Shoulda rammed in the first place, with all missiles still attached--wouldn't have been such a waste..." 

"Cid," said Vincent, as he gripped the Captain's shoulder. 

Cid turned to him. 

"The WEAPON will surely cross the mountains to get to Midgar," speculated Vincent. "It looks like it will end up in the Midgar swamp." 

"Your point being?" snapped Cid. 

Vincent ignored the pilot's bad mood. "The Midgar Zolom is still in there, isn't it? That beast packs quite a punch, as I recall. Maybe if we get it to attack the WEAPON..." 

"It doesn't pack that much of a punch, Vincent," Nanaki reminded him. 

"Yeah, well, I guess it's better than fighting just the five of us," Cid admitted. "Anyone have better ideas?" 

As before, nobody spoke up. 

"Great," said Cid, not sounding very enthusiastic. "I guess we better head for the Myrthil Mines, then--the WEAPON can surely climb the mountain, but I'd rather not do that, myself." 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	12. All Hope Is Lost

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  10. All hope is lost 

Cloud's trail ended at a hole in the ground. 

Or at least, that's the best guess Tifa could offer. Cloud's trail had been rather easy to follow, as he had not moved with any sort of stealth. Broken branches, matted grass, and corpses of different monsters made quite clear what path he had followed. But the trail stopped at that hole in the ground. Nothing on the other side. Therefore, he had gone in. But who knew how deep the hole was? 

_Should have brought some climbing gear,_ thought Tifa. The prudent course, she knew, would be to run back to Mideel and grab some ropes. But there was no _time_. If Cloud was in there, she had to follow, no matter what. But she did not know he was in there. If she was wrong... 

Finally, after debating with herself what to do for a short while, she followed Cid's advice. She followed her heart and began climbing down the hole's wall. The dirt was quite soft, which gave her many handholds. However, those were not very solid. She had descended a mere meter when she lost her grip. She scrambled to recover it, but all her weight was on her left foot for a moment. The foothold there gave way and she fell, screaming in anguish. 

Luckily, she was only a couple of meters above the hole's bottom, and the ground was soft. She landed unharmed. 

Didn't mean it wasn't painful, though. 

* * * 

Getting to her feet as quickly as her protesting back would let her, Tifa looked around. From above, the hole had seemed very dark, so she was quite surprised to see that the walls glowed in a faint, soothing green light. Why it had looked totally dark from above, she did not know, and did not wonder much about it; she knew she had to hurry. Looking to her right, she saw the entrance to some sort of tunnel. Walking to it, she saw footprints on the ground. They were obviously Cloud's. She almost cried with relief, and sprinted down the tunnel. 

She wasn't very far in when several bats came out of a small hole in the tunnel's wall. Angered by the young woman's intrusion, they swarmed towards her. Tifa tried to run away, but they were faster, and soon the bats were on her, biting and scratching. _I don't have time for this!_ thought Tifa, as she reluctantly punched the closest bat. It fell and lay still, dead. She killed several others until the swarm finally decided to leave her alone. She paused, looking down at her bloodied hands, and wondered, _Those bats were just defending themselves. I killed them. Why don't I feel any remorse?_

The answer came to her: **Because there are more important things right now.** But when did she start thinking that way, and where would it bring her? Tifa shook her head, confused. _Since when should I feel any remorse for mere bats?_ She resumed running and very nearly collided with a thin man who appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Trying to stop, she slid on the mud that was covering the tunnel's floor and fell rather ungracefully in front of the stranger. 

The stranger smirked. "Well, well... one of the saviors of the Planet in the flesh. Only, she's not here to save the Planet, this time. She's here to prevent its salvation." His voice was deep, but there was something in its quality that made Tifa's hair stand on end. His features were hidden by the hood of the white cloak he wore. "Shame I can't confront you now... But I can at least slow you down," he said. 

"Who are you?" asked Tifa, as she stood up and went into combat stance. 

"You will know soon enough... But right now, I have other matters to attend," the stranger replied. And with that, he vanished without a sound or any sort of flash. 

Tifa shook her head, trying to clear it. _What in the world...? Was that man real, or am I losing it? First hating myself for killing bats, now this? Is someone messing with my mind?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a snarl. She resumed her fighting stance, squinting to see what new danger awaited her. 

Predictably enough, it was yet another monster. That one looked like a giant crab, its vicious claws covered with razor-sharp spikes. The rest of its body was covered by a shell that looked extremely thick. Its eyes, barely visible in all that shell, faintly glowed red. 

Tifa tried to approach the crab, but it used its claws to keep her away. Twice, she tried to close on the monster. Twice, she had to retreat, its claws narrowly missing her. Since the physical approach did not seem to work, Tifa fell back and used her Materia. She tried Fire, but the beast did not seem fazed by the spectacular pyrotechnics. She tried Ice, but it seemed to actually heal the crab. She tried Lightning, but that did not seem to have much more effect that Fire. She finally tried Poison, but again, with little effect. Obviously, the Materia she was wearing was much too weak to have any effect. She stopped casting spells and tried to think of a way to get closer. 

She did not have to wait long; the crab suddenly closed on her with a speed that seemed impossible for such a massive creature. She dodged its lethal claws, but one of them managed to take hold of her right leg. She punched the claw, careful to avoid the spikes, and was free, but her leg was badly cut. She cast Restore and moved away. The crab, sensing that its prey was vulnerable, pressed on, hitting Tifa on her left shoulder. 

That was the last mistake the monster ever made. 

Rolling away, holding her shoulder, Tifa felt anger build inside her. She let it grow, encouraging it, until she felt strength flow through her body. Then, faster than the eye could follow, she leaped between the two claws. She dealt several punches to the crab. She then gave it two kicks. She grabbed the crab and dropped it on the ground. She dealt the crab another punch, a vicious uppercut. She lifted the monster high in the air and threw it hard to the ground, making the walls of the tunnel shake. The crab was already dead at that point. However, she was not finished. She concentrated all her strength in a single punch that shattered the shell of the dead crab. Parts of the beast splattered all over the tunnel's stone walls. 

Tifa ignored the oozing wound on her shoulder and jumped above what little that remained of the creature. She sprinted onward. 

* * * 

While Tifa was running like crazy in the tunnel, Cloud emerged from it. He found himself in a large cavern bathed in green light. In front of him, he could see the source of the light: a river filled with a green liquid. _The Lifestream,_ he thought. And right in front of the Lifestream, crying, was... 

_Cloud was standing some distance from Aeris. Only, she was not praying; she was crying in front of the Lifestream, her back to him._

Cloud shook his head. It had to be a coincidence. Dreams were not reality, were they? 

_She felt she had done a terrible evil. Cloud knew what that evil was, of course, everyone knew. Why couldn't he remember it? He did not know._

Cloud shook his head again. Why was his thinking so damn muddy? He kept flashing back to that stupid dream... For an instant, he saw clearly what was happening, and thought, mortified, _I should not have come here!_ But that was only for an instant... 

_But he knew the only way to fix this was..._

Feeling as if he was moving in a dense fog, Cloud unsheathed his sword and stepped forward, towards Aeris. For an instant, he paused. _What the hell am I doing?_ But that was only for a moment, because then... 

_Aeris felt his presence, turned around to look at him. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She did not dare to look at him. She asked him to kill her._

Cloud blinked. This wasn't just his dream... Aeris had actually just asked him to kill her! _This is insane!_ he thought. He felt himself raising his sword, poised to strike. _What is happening to me?_ Sword lifted, his arms trembled. He was fighting against himself. He had the uncontrollable urge to swing the sword down. He resisted with all his heart, knowing that if he gave in to the urge, something irreparable would happen. But it was a losing battle. The urge became stronger and stronger, and he wasn't even aware that Aeris was there anymore. All that existed was the sword, the urge to drive it down, and his own will, battling the compulsion. 

Tifa emerged from the tunnel, panting, and screamed in horror, seeing Cloud, his sword poised over a crying Aeris. Something shattered in Cloud with that scream and, not able to fight the urge any longer, he swung the blade down. 

_Cloud did not realize that he would grant her wish until the sword -- **his** sword -- was whistling down towards her._

The sword was a mere centimeter from Aeris' head when Cloud felt a hard blow to his hand. The blow deflected his own, and he hit the stone floor next to Aeris. He just stood there, confused, as Tifa, who had deflected Cloud's blow, grabbed Aeris and, pulling the Cetra behind her, plunged into the Lifestream. 

Seeing Tifa plunge in there snapped Cloud out of his daze. "TIFA!" he screamed. No words can describe the anguish that could be heard in his voice. He knelt down where Aeris had been a few seconds ago and, putting his head between his hands, started crying. "What have I done? They're both lost, now..." he said softly to the ground. Unfortunately, the ground did not give a damn. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	13. The Cavalry Is Always A Trifle Late

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  11. The Cavalry is always a trifle late 

"Here it comes, everyone--get ready!" Cid yelled over the loud noise of the WEAPON crashing through the mountains. 

AVALANCHE got ready with a clatter of steel as weapons were taken out of their different holders. Everyone snapped their Materia orbs in place. _For all the good those will do,_ thought Cid grimly. They all got in position not a moment too soon: with the sound of stone crashing down from the mountain's wall, the WEAPON appeared, crawling with its arms and remaining leg. 

"This is it--our last stand! Let's make it good!" yelled Barret over the noise as he opened fire. 

Vincent and Reeve opened fire as well, as the others charged. As expected, their shots and blows had little effect. However, the commotion woke the Midgar Zolom. The large snakelike creature rose out of the swamp, hissing loudly, head swinging from side to side. It tried to bite Barret, who got out of the way just in time. 

"No, you idiot! Don't bite me, bite the WEAPON!" Barret yelped. 

"We have to get the WEAPON to attack it!" Nanaki pointed out, as he was vainly trying to scratch the WEAPON's surface. 

"I'm on it," said Vincent simply. He stood next to the Zolom and cast Fire on the WEAPON. The WEAPON reacted by sending a single bolt of energy that hit the Zolom. The Zolom hissed even louder, rising its bulk on its tail, and was obviously preparing to cast a spell. 

"Clear!" ordered Vincent. Cid and Nanaki backed up. The Zolom cast its spell, and a tower of fire appeared, engulfing the WEAPON. It did some damage, apparently, as several spots on the WEAPON's armor became dark. AVALANCHE cheered. 

Unfortunately, their cheering did not last. The WEAPON, sensing a threat, launched a barrage of its energy beams at the Zolom. The Zolom screamed and died quickly. All that was left was charred bits. 

"Now what?" groaned Reeve. 

"We go all out," replied Cid. "There's nothing else to do." He sounded like a man ready to die. 

AVALANCHE went all out, casting spells and hitting the WEAPON with all they had. The WEAPON stopped advancing and fired several bolts, which were barely dodged. This kept on until first Reeve, then Barret gave up, exhausted. With only three people still hammering it, the WEAPON started advancing again. It did not even bother firing its energy beams. 

"This is useless!" screamed Cid in frustration. Nothing they were doing had any effect. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a green mist appeared, accompanied with a thundering roar. The mist coalesced around the WEAPON. A blinding green flash surrounded it. When it cleared, the WEAPON was scarred. 

Everyone stared. That looked just like someone had cast Ultima! 

Out of the Myrthil mines came the familiar figure of a young girl with black hair, wearing a ninja uniform, and triumphantly holding a green Materia Orb. 

"YUFFIE!" everyone exclaimed. 

Yuffie Kirasagi smirked. "You thought you were going to have fun without me? Forget it! Here, catch!" and with that, she threw several Materia Orbs towards the other members of AVALANCHE. The men gratefully removed their uselessly young Materia and replaced them with the mastered Orbs Yuffie was giving out. As they snapped the orbs in their holders, they could feel their power immediately. Their energy and morale came back strong. 

"All right! Let's kick some WEAPON butt!" said Cid, opening the fight with a strong Bolt spell. 

The WEAPON stopped its advance and started firing its beams again. However, Reeve was faster, casting a Barrier spell on everyone. He followed with Restore-type spells and ended the sequence with a strong Fire spell in the WEAPON's wounded leg. The leg broke off, leaving an oozing wound. 

"Yuffie! Cast inside the wound!" ordered Cid. 

Yuffie complied, and cast Ultima inside the wound. The WEAPON seemed to struggle against the force of the explosion, and finally laid there, inert. 

Everyone cheered, slapping one another's back and surrounding their unlikely savior, Yuffie. Yuffie was grinning openly, looking very proud of herself. 

"Well, I never thought I'd say that, but... I'm glad to see you, Yuffie!" said Barret, hugging the young girl. 

"Yeah... Just let me breathe, you big bear!" replied Yuffie, her voice muffled by Barret's chest. The big man released her, a grin plastered on his face. "What's so funny?" she asked rather testily. 

"Ironic that you ended up saving our butt by _giving_ us Materia," replied Barret. 

"Yeah, well, I just couldn't let you get killed, now, could I? Who would I steal Materia from in the future, anyways? No one is using it much nowadays," she complained. 

"How come you came in that late?" asked Reeve. 

"Hey, I just saved your butts! Be thankful I showed up at all!" screamed Yuffie, red-faced. 

Reeve brought his hands up placatingly. "Peace! I'm just wondering why you weren't answering your PHS, that's all! I tried to raise three times, and you never answered. All I got was the carrier." 

"Well, there's something wrong with your PHS, because mine worked fine--I heard you nice and clear! I thought you had gone crazy or something, just droning on and on about needing my Materia---" replied Yuffie. 

"Our Materia," Vincent corrected calmly. 

"_My_ Materia," asserted Yuffie. 

"No, it must be your PHS. I use mine to talk to my employees all the time," Reeve replied. "Let me take a look," he ordered, thrusting his hand forward. Yuffie complied, putting the small cell phone in Reeve's hands. Reeve unsnapped the casing and peeked inside. He did something with a wire inside and snapped the casing shut. 

"Here," he said, handing the PHS back to Yuffie, "Good as new. Somehow, the microphone's wire got disconnected. You could have yelled loud enough to be heard across Wutai, and I still would not have heard anything--what the mike picked up was just not being transmitted." 

"Oh," said Yuffie. "Anyways... Where's Cloud and Tifa? And you said you brought Aeris back to life?" 

"Well... Things got... Complicated," Cid replied. Yuffie raised her eyebrows at that. "Aeris sort of went AWOL and summoned that WEAPON, Cloud wants to kill her, and Tifa is pursuing them both, and I hope like hell she got there in time." 

Yuffie blanched. "That's awful! Why would Cloud---" 

"He's a fool," snapped Cid. "But now that the WEAPON's gone, we probably should go help Tifa, and possibly knock some sense in Spike. But the Highwind's scrapped..." Cid trailed off. It was obviously not something he liked to think about. 

"Yuffie," Nanaki interrupted, "How did you across the ocean?" 

"Why, by chopper!" she answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Where do you think the Shinra helicopter ended up?" 

"You mean you managed to steal a _helicopter_?" asked Reeve, incredulous. 

"Who, me? Never!" replied Yuffie, trying to look innocent and failing. 

"Folks, this all fine and dandy, but I'm really worried that Spike lost it and did something terrible," said Cid. "Also, if he didn't lose it, Aeris definitely did, and although I'm sure we're now able to dispatch any WEAPON sent our way, I'd rather not. I think we should go give Tifa a hand as soon as possible. Yuffie, is there room in that chopper?" 

"You bet," the young ninja replied simply. "It can only take four people, though. And don't think _I'm_ staying here!" 

"I'm going too," said Barret. 

"So am I," said Cid. "Who else comes with us?" 

Nanaki, Vincent and Reeve conversed for a while. It was finally decided Nanaki would go. Reeve had business in Kalm, and Vincent wanted to try to come up with a battle plan to move into Midgar. Reeve waved goodbye, while Vincent was already moving ahead. The rest ran to the entrance to the Myrthil mines. 

They ran into another Zolom, but it did not last three seconds against the combined assault of four offensive spells. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	14. A Journey In A Tortured Mind

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  12. A journey in a tortured mind 

The Lifestream was just as Tifa remembered it. 

Covering her ears, Tifa ran in some random direction. Thousands of souls were screaming their anger. Accusing her. Condemning her. For things she had never done, never even heard of. She ignored the all as she ran, calling Aeris' name as loud as she could. She hoped to be heard over the complaints of the dead, but she knew that if Aeris did not call to her as well, she'd never find her. Tifa began to question her entire plan. _There are so many things that could go wrong,_ she thought. Still, she kept going. _Besides, what choice do I have?_

Fortunately, a few seconds after those thoughts had wormed their way in Tifa's mind, she heard a faint, yet familiar, voice call her name. Hearing this, Tifa called for Aeris even louder, running in the direction she thought the Cetra's voice had come from. Pinpointing that direction proved maddeningly difficult. As she ran in one direction, where the calls were coming out stronger, Aeris' voice would become fainter as Tifa moved forward. Within a few more steps, the Cetra's voice would become louder once again. The laws of physics obviously did not apply in that place. Tifa's frustration was growing quickly. 

The matter was presently settled when the ground (or whatever served as ground in the Lifestream) opened up under Tifa's feet. She did not resist the fall--she knew she had finally reached her objective. Midway through the fall, she lost consciousness. 

When Tifa came to, she was standing in a very strange place that looked more like a dream than a real location. _Just like Cloud's mind,_ she thought. She was surprised that it was just as eerie as Cloud's mind had been. She had expected something a bit more... sane, somehow. Aeris had never had Cloud's psychological problems. _Well, maybe I'm reading too much in the scenery..._ she thought. 

There was a big difference with her previous journey in someone else's mind. This time, there were _people_ around. In Cloud's mind, several manifestations of Cloud's personality had been present. But there had been no one else. 

Here, there were scores of people, all semi-translucent, ghostlike. Tifa did not know any of them. She noticed they all had brilliant green eyes, like Aeris'. 

Tifa walked up to where a group of ghosts were standing. "Where's Aeris?" she asked them. 

One of the ghosts walked to her. He was an old, wise-looking man with a long, snowy-white beard. 

"Who are you?" he asked with an idly curious tone. 

"Tifa Lockheart. Where's Aeris?" she repeated. 

Another ghost walked to her. She was a young girl who looked about twelve. "Why should we tell you?" she asked suspiciously. 

"I'm her friend," answered Tifa. 

"What do you intend to do, once you find her?" asked the old man. 

"I want to bring her back to her former self. To make her sane again," replied Tifa. 

"Oh, she's very much sane," replied the ghost of a dashing young man with blond hair. "But we can't let you bring her back. If you do, the Planet will be in danger." 

"If the Planet is in danger, Aeris will surely try to do something about it," Tifa assured them. "My friends and I will help her if necessary." 

"It's not that simple," muttered the old man. 

"Aeris doesn't agree with us," said the young girl. 

"She's forgotten her heritage," completed the young man. "She thinks our ways are wrong." 

"How do you know your ways are right in the first place?" snapped Tifa. Something in the young man's tone was putting her on a short fuse. 

"We are Cetra. We can't be wrong," said the young girl matter-of-factly. 

"Aeris is Cetra as well," Tifa pointed out. 

"She's only half Cetra," said the young man, contempt dripping from his voice. The old man glared at him and seemed about to say something, but kept silent. 

"I see," said Tifa, putting as much sarcasm in her tone as she could. "Since you are pure Cetra, you can't be wrong, but Aeris, as half Cetra, can be." 

"That's right," said the young girl, again, matter-of-factly. 

"I think I've had enough of all of you," said Tifa. "I don't care who's right, you or Aeris. You can't just hijack her mind like this!" With that, Tifa ran forward, forcing her way through the ghosts. They hastily moved out of her way. 

The young man floated to Tifa's left as she ran. "Why do you care for that half-human?" 

"She's my friend!" replied Tifa angrily. 

"She's also your rival," the young man shot back. He conjured an ethereal image of Cloud's face. 

"Maybe," Tifa admitted. "But nobody deserves what you've done to her, and especially not her. You..." She paused, not sure how to express the thoughts that were coming to her. Then, she suddenly realized the nature of those people. "You're the ones who got Aeris to try to fry me, aren't you? And you got her to summon the WEAPON, right? You're the thousand souls she said she could not fight!" 

"We are," admitted the old man, who had just drifted to Tifa's right. "What difference does it make?" 

"None, except that I'm even more convinced that if anyone's right here, it's not you people," Tifa replied icily. She pressed onward. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Aeris popped out. She was tied to a stake, and her face wore marks of abuse. Tifa gasped. _Each of those wounds is to her mind,_ she thought. _What kind of monster would do something like this?_ She ran forward and undid Aeris' restraints. She shot a glance at the young man. If he had not been already dead, Tifa's look would have no doubt killed him. She undid the last piece of rope that was holding Aeris tied to the stake. Aeris immediately collapsed to the floor, awake, but exhausted. Tifa helped her up. "What have you done to her?" she yelled. 

"We wanted her to see things our way," replied the old man sadly. "We regret we had to do this to her." 

"Speak for yourself," retorted the young man. "I rather enjoyed it." 

Tifa saw red. Forgetting that she was not in the real world, she turned around and drove her palm in the young man's face. 

The young man's ghost screamed and vanished. 

The ghosts of the other Cetra stood still, not saying a word. They looked stunned by Tifa's actions. She ignored them and turned to Aeris, intent on tending to her. She gasped when she saw the Cetra's face: it was now free of the earlier wounds. Aeris stepped forward, steady on her feet now, her expression one of anger Tifa had never seen on her face. 

Before Aeris had a chance to speak, the old man held up a hand. "Aeris. I regret what we've done to you," he said quickly. "But you must understand our position." 

"I understand it all too well," Aeris replied hotly. "That's why I fight it. Leave me alone. Find another victim to take over." 

"We can't leave," protested the old man. "Surely you know that, by now!" 

"I'll make you leave!" Aeris snapped. 

"You can't do that," said the ghost of the young girl. 

"No, I can't. But Tifa can," Aeris replied, turning to her friend and looking at her with tranquil smile. 

"It must have been because Elahim was off-guard that she managed it," the old man speculated. His voice had lost its earlier assurance, though. 

Aeris looked at Tifa, eyebrows raised. The martial artist grinned. "Which one do you want me to punch?" she asked. 

"The one you think deserves it the most," Aeris replied. 

"From what I know of them, they all deserve it!" Tifa asserted. 

Aeris shrugged. She pointed at a young man who looked like the one Tifa had attacked earlier, except that he had black hair. "This one," she said. "He tried to `convince' me the same way Elahim did." 

Aeris did not need to ask twice. Tifa moved to the young man's ghost and punched him in his chest. He screamed and vanished. The ghost of a young woman who had been standing next to him tried to kick Tifa on the leg. Tifa dodged, whirled, and kicked her attacker on the side of the head. That ghost screamed and vanished as well. 

"STOP!" screamed the old man. "We'll leave. But please, Aeris... take care of the Planet," he pleaded. 

"You know very well that I intend to," replied Aeris hotly. "I always intended to. You have no excuse for what you did." 

"Ah, but will your ways succeed?" asked the old man. "Never mind. We'll have to hope you do. I wish you could see what's at stake, here." 

And with that, with no noise nor flashes, the ghosts vanished. 

Aeris looked immensely relieved. Tifa put a hand on her shoulder. Aeris turned around and gave her a hesitant smile. Then, without warning, the facade crumbled and she started to cry. Tifa instinctively took the Cetra in her arms, trying to comfort her. Gradually, Aeris' sobs became less and less violent. Finally, she released Tifa and left her comforting arms. She smiled, this time with more conviction. 

"They're gone," she said. "It's over." 

"Had you met any of them before now?" asked Tifa. 

"No. Not even while I was dead. You know, I'm not even sure they're Cetra. My mother, Ifalna, certainly never acted like this..." She stayed silent a little while, staring off at a distance. Finally, she sighed and turned to Tifa, smiling once again. "We better get out of here. Poor Cloud must be worried sick!" 

Thinking of Cloud sobered Tifa up. _My God, he must be a wreck! He probably thinks it's all his fault still, and he doesn't even know we're both alive!_ she realized. Aloud, she said, "Right. Let's get out of here." 

* * * 

Cloud Strife was lying on his back, staring at the rock ceiling. He didn't know what to do. He had been prepared for Aeris' death, in a manner of speaking. But Tifa's? Definitely not. 

For the first time in his life, Cloud had absolutely no idea what to do next. Worse, he felt he had no reason to exist any further. Tifa's absence left a gaping hole somewhere he could not define. _Why do I feel this way?_ Cloud wondered. _When did she become so important that I can't think of life in her absence?_

He did not have time to find an answer to that question. A faint sound of water dripping interrupted the flow of his confused thoughts. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked in the direction of the noise. The sound came from the edge of the cliff overlooking the Lifestream, where Cloud could see a familiar gloved hand trying to find a handhold. 

At first, Cloud just looked at that hand, not quite understanding what it meant. Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. _Tifa's alive!_ was the only thought in his mind as he ran to the edge of the cliff. He grasp Tifa's hand and pulled hard, helping her out. Still clad in Vincent's cape, dripping wet, Tifa looked incredibly tired. She managed a weak smile as she saw Cloud. Cloud started to drag her away from the cliff, but she resisted. 

"Aeris is in there. Help her out, Cloud," she told him. 

Cloud just blinked. Feeling as if he was in a dream, he pulled Aeris up. She did not even look at him. She only mumbled thanks and collapsed on the stone floor, obviously even more exhausted than Tifa was. Knowing he'd get no answers to the hundred questions that pressed in his mind, he turned back to Tifa. She closed her eyes and smiled. 

"Aeris is herself again. Look, I know you want to know what happened," said Tifa. "But please... I really need to sleep." 

"Sure," answered Cloud. Tifa slumped to the ground and was asleep almost immediately. 

Not having anything better to do, Cloud sat, back on a nearby stone wall, and tried to sort out all the emotions he could feel welling from within him. He normally would have laughed with relief, but it had been one too many shocks in a single day. First, Aeris alive, then Tifa dying, then thinking both of them dead, and then both of them alive again. All he could do now was stare at both of them with an odd expression on his face. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	15. Incident In Kalm

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  13. Incident in Kalm 

When Tifa woke up, Cloud was nowhere to be found, and Aeris was still sleeping peacefully, obviously exhausted by the ordeal. Annoyed and puzzled by the young man's absence, Tifa walked into the nearby tunnel. She came to the fork in the tunnel when she felt someone tap her left shoulder. She whirled, lifting her hands in battle stance, then relaxed and smiled as she recognized Barret's wide grin. The large man picked her up in an affectionate and rather tight hug. 

"I'm glad to see you too, Barret," said Tifa. "But please--let me down!" 

Barret complied, his grin still impossibly wide. Behind him, Tifa made out Cid, Nanaki and Yuffie. Cid came forward, his expression serious. 

"Is Aeris..." the pilot asked, not daring to complete his sentence. 

Tifa shook her head. "Aeris is fine. I got there just in time. She's sane again, too." 

"That's... more than I thought possible," said Nanaki slowly. He sounded immensely relieved. "What made her do those things in the first place?" 

Tifa hesitated. Then, "Perhaps you better ask her," she said. "She's back in there." Tifa looked around. "I'm glad you showed up, Yuffie. But where's everybody else?" 

"Vincent and Reeve stayed behind to do other things," said Cid. He carefully avoided to say why they had had to leave some of their teammates behind; the loss of the Highwind was still too recent, still painful. "We haven't seen Spike." 

_Oh, God, did he take off again out of misplaced guilt?_ worried Tifa. But as those thoughts formed in her mind, a voice was heard from behind Cid. 

"Maybe turning around would help," the voice said with a slightly mocking tone. 

Everyone turned to the voice, startled, and they all saw the one who had said those words, Cloud Strife, come out of the shadows. In one hand, he was carrying his massive sword. Its edge was painted with some goo from some monster that had obviously lost its life a short while ago. In his other hand, he held a plastic bag. 

Cid recovered quickly. "You son of a..." he began. "You're _damn_ lucky Tifa got there in time, mister! Why'd you take off like that, you jackass?" 

Cloud did not answer. He only looked down, blushing in shame. Tifa walked between the two men. "Cid, lay off!" she snapped. "Everything turned out all right, hasn't it? And I'm sure Cloud's lack of sleep the days before didn't help him much. Cut him some slack, will you?" 

Cloud put his hand on Tifa's shoulder. 

"Cid's right, Tifa. I don't know what got into me, but it wasn't fatigue. I just felt I had to strike, and..." Cloud shook his head, unable to find the words to explain how he had felt. He presented the bag to Tifa. "Anyways--words aren't enough to thank you for what you did. I hope this will do, at least as part of my gratitude." 

Tifa took the bag and looked inside. The bag contained a set of clothes: a mini skirt, suspenders, a white T-shirt and a heavy belt. She smiled. "You actually went all the way to Mideel just to get me a new set of clothes?" 

Cloud looked slightly flustered. "Well, I couldn't let you walk around in a half-shredded shirt and a wet, muddy cape, could I? Besides, Vincent will want his cape back, eventually." 

Barret gave Cloud a silent, knowing glance. 

"What is it?" asked Cloud defensively. "What are friends for, if they can't do a simple thing like that?" 

"Same old Cloud," said Cid. "Does something wonderful when you think he has to be the dumbest guy on the Planet!" 

"Indeed," added Nanaki. "I wonder if SOLDIER training does that to its every recruit." 

"I guess we now know why they canceled it," concluded Yuffie. 

Cloud looked at his friends with a puzzled expression. He turned to Tifa, who was looking at her feet, her cheeks crimson. 

"Any idea what they're talking about?" Cloud asked her. 

"Uh..." was the only thing Tifa managed to say, shuffling her feet while finding them a fascinating thing to look at. 

"Never mind," growled Cloud. He started down the tunnel. "I'll go wake Aeris," he yelled over his shoulder. "Let's meet back in Mideel." 

* * * 

The band reached Mideel in the late afternoon. They went back to the inn's charred remains, where the innkeeper's relatives were cleaning the area. Aeris, eyes filled with tears, apologized for her past actions. That did not seem to satisfy the villagers in any way; they almost came to blows, despite Aeris' obvious distress at what she had done. Cloud, Tifa and Barret quickly butted in before things got ugly. They offered some money, admitting that, yes, it was a poor compensation for a lost life. This mollified the family a bit, but they still seemed uncertain. Barret, his cheeks taking a darker shade of brown in anger, finally settled it, bellowing: 

"Look, money won't bring the poor fellow back, but neither would lynching this poor girl! She's been through enough! _Leave her alone!_" 

The innkeeper's widow blinked, then simply took the money, mumbling some vague apology. 

AVALANCHE assembled in the item shop, which was serving as a temporary bar/inn. 

Everyone sat down. Cloud began: "So, what happened to you guys while I was being stupid?" 

"Well, it's like this," began Cid. He then told the others of the pursuit in the Highwind, his desperate maneuver of ramming the airship in the WEAPON, the encounter in the Midgar swamp, and Yuffie's last-minute save. "There were only four seats in the chopper, so some had to stay behind. Vincent and Reeve volunteered. We landed in Mideel and started tracking you guys, when Red remembered something about how the cavern was built. He found a passage, and that's that." With that, Cid emptied the can of beer he had ordered. 

Cloud turned to Yuffie, eyebrows raised. "Why, Yuffie... I didn't know you cared! I'm impressed! That was a _great_ thing you did back there!" 

Yuffie blushed slightly, and said, "Aw, shucks! Like I told you before I nailed Sephiroth---" 

"We," corrected Barret. 

"_I_ nailed Sephiroth," insisted Yuffie, "I've stuck with you so far, haven't I? And I hadn't done anything with that bag of Materia for a long time, so..." 

Cloud nodded. "I guess you're growing up and I never noticed. Sorry." 

Nanaki rose on his hind legs so he could show more than the top of his head to the others sitting around the table. "Cloud, what happened while we were gone?" he asked. 

Cloud shrugged. "Tifa can probably tell it better. I'm still a bit confused on some parts." 

"I'm not much of a storyteller," protested Tifa. 

"Just tell us whatever you remember," urged Aeris. 

"...All right," said Tifa. Hesitantly at first, then with more confidence, she told them what had happened. Her race to the hole that was the entrance to the cavern--- 

"Waitaminnit," interrupted Barret. "How come you didn't go through the real entrance?" 

"I didn't know about the entrance," explained Tifa. "I was just following Cloud. Red was with you guys, not with me, remember?" 

"Wallace, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear the rest," grumbled Cid. 

Barret nodded Tifa to continue. Tifa told them about the bats and the man in the white cloak. She was about to tell them about the crab-like monster, when she noticed that Aeris was very pale and that Cloud seemed to be far away, a frown on his face. She paused, and asked, "What's wrong?" to both of them. 

"That feeling you described--the one of fighting against yourself... it's familiar," said Cloud. "I'd forgotten, and my memory's all jumbled around that time, but... When I swung at Aeris, it was against my will. I had this uncontrollable urge to strike, without knowing why. Towards the end, I didn't even remember that Aeris was under my blade. And I kept flashing to one of my nightmares... Very strange," he concluded. 

"You're not going nuts on us again, are you?" asked Yuffie worriedly. 

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno. If I do, I'll tell you first thing," he said with a smile. That made everyone around the table chuckle, except Aeris. Cloud noticed and asked softly, "What's wrong, Aeris?" 

At the mention of her name, the young Cetra jumped slightly. "Sorry, I was... elsewhere..." 

"Is everything all right?" asked Barret. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something..." 

"I haven't," Aeris assured with a wan smile. "But Tifa may have. Never mind. What happened next, Tifa?" 

"Waitaminnit," interrupted Barret. "I want to hear this. What's this about a ghost?" 

"An old legend," Aeris said, dismissing the matter with a wave of her hand. 

"One that scares the hell out of you, it seems," pointed out Cid. 

"I said, it's just a legend! Until I know more, I'm not going to say anything about this!" said Aeris in a surprisingly strong voice. 

"It may be important," pointed out Nanaki. 

"Believe me, it isn't," assured Aeris, her voice softer, more reassuring now. "Just a fairy tale. I'll tell you sometime. What happened next, Tifa?" 

Tifa stared at Aeris for a long time before continuing with her story. Then, shrugging, she began again, telling them of her encounter with the crab-like monster, her desperate dash through the tunnel, arriving just as Cloud was swinging down, and pulling Aeris in the Lifestream with her. She told them of the Ancients in Aeris' soul that were trying to "convince" her, how she got rid of them, and of their escape from the Lifestream. "What I still can't figure out, though, is how I could get rid of the Ancients there so easily. And how come those Ancients acted _nothing_ like the Ancients I've known so far, either in person or in legends." 

"I can tell you what's the answer to your first question," said Aeris. "We Cetra don't see ourselves as a physical body in the Lifestream; we see ourselves as... spheres of spiritual energy, I guess. Humans see their own body, or so you tell me. To Cetra, striking at another soul is impossible because we don't believe we have any substance in that realm. You believe otherwise, so you're not as limited." 

"What about the second question? You know anything about that?" asked Tifa softly. 

"I... No, I can't figure it out. My mom certainly never acted like this," Aeris pointed out. Still, Tifa noticed she was avoiding her gaze. _She's hiding something,_ thought Tifa. _Why? And why did those Cetra act like they did?_

"In any case," said Cloud, "we have another problem to contend with. Shinra. And from what you've told us, Tifa, it looks like the Mako reactors started... whatever those Cetra were doing. If we stop the Mako reactors, would they be satisfied?" 

"I think so," replied Aeris. "We must stop those reactors at any cost. The Planet is too weak to sustain those for very long." 

"So that little mystery may become moot if we stop the reactors," speculated Cloud. "I think we should move on Midgar now, storm Shinra headquarters and shut those reactors down. We'll advise about those Cetra, or whatever they are, once we're done with Midgar. Everyone agree?" 

Everyone except Tifa nodded. Cloud looked at her; she seemed uncertain. Finally, she nodded, saying, "I guess it's no use worrying about mysterious apparitions for now. All right." 

"There is one slight problem, though," pointed out Cid. "Transportation. Do you want to ride on the chopper's skids, or what?" 

"Don't we have some gold Chocobos stored around here?" asked Tifa. 

Cid smiled at her. "How do you manage to remember all this stuff?" 

Tifa shrugged, then smiled devilishly at the pilot. "Maybe because I don't smoke like some old fool I know," she teased. 

"Ouch," said Barret. 

Cid shot him a glance. "Who asked you? Tifa, I'm hurt you think that of me!" 

"The part about being a fool, or the one about being old?" quipped Yuffie. 

Cid grunted, then turned around. "When you're all done laughing at an old man, you can join me in the chopper," he said gruffly, walking out of the item shop. 

Everyone walked out, except Tifa. Cloud noticed her absence a few feet out of the door. He turned around to go back in. 

"What is it?" Aeris asked him. 

"I'll be back in a minute," he told her over his shoulder. He walked in to find Tifa still sitting at the table, twirling her glass, looking at the ice cube in her drink moving round and round. Cloud sat next to her. 

Tifa looked up. "She's hiding something, Cloud. I'm sure of it." 

Cloud shrugged. "I know, but what can we do about it?" 

"Maybe if _you_ asked her..." began Tifa. 

Cloud shook his head. "Don't think it makes much difference me asking instead of you. Especially since _you_ saved her life, and _I_ almost killed her," he pointed out. 

Tifa sighed. _Why don't I believe that? Am I being paranoid, or is he being naive?_ she wondered. "I'm not so sure," she said aloud. 

"Whatever. I think we should give her time, though. It seems to scare the beejesus out of her, whatever it is," said Cloud. 

Tifa sighed again. "Perhaps you're right." 

Cloud smiled at her. "Besides, it's not as if she's the only one who doesn't want to say something," he said offhand. His tone was casual, but it was obviously an act. One Cloud had difficulty doing. 

Tifa froze. Surely he didn't mean... "What are you talking about, Cloud?" she asked in a tiny voice, but she knew in her heart what he was talking about. 

"You remember, that night, at the Gold Saucer, in the ride? I never found out what you wanted to tell me in there," he said. 

_Come on, Tifa, just tell him,_ Tifa thought. But she froze again, and just looked away. 

Cloud looked at her for a long time. Then, lips tightening, he got up without a word and walked to the door. Tifa looked up and saw him turn. 

"I guess you need some time, too," he said softly. He then got out and closed the door behind him. 

Tifa slumped on the table. _I blew it again! How can I be so dumb? What's the matter with me?_ she wondered. Then, since she did not know the answer, she shrugged inwardly, finished her drink in a single gulp, grimacing at the alcohol's strength, then walked out to join the others. 

* * * 

They finally reached the Midgar region in the middle of the following night. Exhausted by the long Chocobo ride, the band decided to keep going and reach Kalm to get some rest. There, Tifa offered everyone a room in her bar's inn. Everyone protested that they didn't want to crowd out paying customers, but she would have none of it. 

"Besides, in the middle of winter, we're not exactly swamped with clients, you know," she said. 

With one last show of polite reluctance, they accepted her hospitality. Tifa assigned Cloud a room in the basement next to her own. It was the one he had occupied during the two years he had spent with her in Kalm, both of them occasionally helping with the reconstruction of Midgar. During that time, Cloud had worked as an exterminator, cleaning different regions of its local monsters. It had been a good two years, peaceful yet far from boring. 

A good two years, that is, until the nightmares had begun. 

Those memories were with Cloud as he unpacked his few belongings. He took his sword off and placed it next to the door. He was about to take off his vest when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to find Tifa on the other side. 

Cloud grinned. "Wait, don't tell me--you booked your own room and mine's the only one left!" 

Tifa grinned back. "No, silly! I just wanted to ask you if you'd like to go up and get a drink, or something." 

Cloud grabbed his keys from the table next to the entrance to his room and stepped out, closing the thick wooden door behind him. "Sure," he replied simply. 

They entered the bar, which was quite busy for that time of the year. Most of the patrons were regulars. Obviously, Tifa's personnel had done a fine job in the few days she had been all over the world. Motioning Cloud to sit down at an empty table, Tifa quickly went from table to table, making sure she made every patron feel unique, special. That was how her bar had gotten its reputation, and she had every intention of living up to it. She came back towards Cloud's table, and was surprised to see that a man in a three-piece suit had joined him. Intrigued, she got closer. Cloud spotted her and beckoned her forward. She then saw that the other man was Reeve. 

"Reeve!" she shouted over the loud conversations in the bar. "When did you come back?" she asked in a more normal volume as she sat down on a chair Cloud had pulled from an unoccupied table for her. 

"I barely got here," he said. "I'm just over from the Locust research facility. I got pretty good news!" 

"Really? What news?" asked Tifa eagerly. 

"I'm not telling... at least, not yet," said Reeve with a mysterious smile. "Let's just say that if we succeed in storming Midgar tomorrow, that technology will ensure Shinra won't give us any further trouble." 

"It's not anything... destructive, is it?" asked Tifa with a frown. 

Reeve laughed. "No, not at all! But I won't say anymore. I want this to be a surprise!" he said. He was in a jovial mood, a far cry from the worried man that had left in pursuit of the WEAPON less than a day before. "Anyways, what happened to you guys? I've been dying to know!" 

"Tifa can probably---" began Cloud. 

"Nope, I can't. It's your turn now, Cloud, not mine!" said Tifa, crossing her arms. 

Cloud shrugged. "I guess... OK, sure. Well, Reeve, it's like this..." 

"Don't you guys want a drink or something?" asked Tifa. 

"Vodka, please," ordered Reeve. 

"I'll be fine without... Oh, wait! Hm... Give me something hard," Cloud replied with a half-smile. 

"Sure! Coming right up!" said Tifa, getting up to prepare the beverages. As she came back with the glasses, Cloud was already halfway through the story. She was wondering how many details he was omitting to tell the tale so quickly when a gunshot was heard coming from outside the bar. 

The bar's clients fell into silence as they all looked up from their conversations, trying to see where the noise had come from. Cloud and Tifa were immediately on their feet, and, meeting each other's eyes in silent agreement, they both ran towards the bar's front door. Reeve hesitated, then followed, struggling with his gun holster to get the weapon out (and mostly failing). He had to stop at the door to take it out; running was making the holster swing in all directions. 

When he finally got the gun out, he carefully looked outside to see a furious battle taking place. Roughly twenty metallic, humanoid forms were surrounding Cloud and Tifa. Tifa was doing pretty well despite the odds. When one of the metal men got too close, she'd dish out a lethal kick that would send her adversary flying back by ten to twenty feet. Cloud, however, was barely holding out. His hand-to-hand combat training had been a long time ago, and although he was a decent brawler, he was nowhere near Tifa's class, and the odds were just too much for him. Reeve saw Tifa drop her guard to send one of Cloud's attackers fly away, and barely get her guard back up in time. It was clear that Tifa alone would have managed just fine, and would have scrapped several of the enemies by this time. However, she had to cover Cloud, and this was dividing her attention. 

Reeve decided to even the odds a bit. He aimed at the head of one of the metal men that was trying to get past Tifa's guard while she was busy kicking another off Cloud's back, and pulled the trigger. The bullet bounced off harmlessly. However, Reeve had achieved his purpose: Tifa's attacker was distracted and looked in his direction. Tifa noticed this and made the most of the opening. She hit the metallic entity's torso with a vicious kick that made Reeve wince. 

The metal man did something unexpected. 

It screamed. 

A human scream, without a doubt. It was definitely not the squawk of damaged electronics, or the hiss of leaking hydraulic fluid. 

Reeve had been holding his gun in spellcasting position, ready to cast Bolt on what he had thought were robots. Now he paused, confused. Those creatures were not what they seemed. It was possible that lightning could heal them somehow; who could know for sure? His choices limited to the few orbs he was carrying (he'd have given a lot of an Ultima orb right then!), he decided to buy time. He cast Stop. 

The machines (or whatever they were) stopped all movement. Somehow, though, they seemed to be fighting the spell; Reeve could see their limbs tremble. He ran to his two friends. Cloud had a nasty gash that was oozing blood down his cheek. Tifa walked towards him, intending to use a Cure Materia she had in her glove, but Cloud waved her away, indicating a man who was lying on the ground. Tifa nodded and kneeled next to the man. Reeve, having just arrived, breathing hard, kneeled on the other side. 

The man was Vincent. He looked unhurt, but his clothes were dirty and torn. There was little doubt he had fired the gunshot; smoke was still coming out of the gun that laid on the ground to his right. 

"Do you have any Cure orbs?" Tifa asked Reeve. Cloud obviously had no Materia on him; it was in his sword, which was downstairs. 

"'Fraid not. Don't you have some?" asked Reeve. 

"It's pretty immature Materia... I haven't had time to ask Yuffie to lend me some of hers," Tifa explained. 

"That thing's waking up," said Cloud grimly, pointing at one of the metallic forms. 

"Cloud, run down and get your sword," ordered Tifa. 

"I can't just leave you here with those abominations!" replied the blond man. The blood from his wound was now dripping on his shoulder, staining his leather uniform. Despite that, his gaze was hard, unflinching. He was ready to stay and fight, even if it cost him his life. 

"I'm sorry to say, but you're not much help in a fist fight. Get your sword! I'm sure the others will be with us shortly." 

With that, the unmistakable bark of Barret's gun-arm was heard. It came from the other side of the bar. 

"I think they're stuck in the same situation we are," Reeve pointed out. 

"Cloud, please!" implored Tifa. 

Cloud looked at her, his expression unreadable. Then, in a very un-Cloud-like display, he cursed loudly and ran like a madman for the bar. 

As he entered the door, one of the metal men woke up and lunged at Tifa. Reeve yelled a warning. Tifa rolled on the ground, and the metallic arm that would have knocked her out hit the ground harmlessly. Tifa threw Reeve two green orbs, telling him to "use those!", and back-pedaled when another machine lunged at her. Reeve snapped the two spheres in, and cast Barrier on both himself and Vincent. He tried to cast it on Tifa, but she had moved too far away. He then realized that she had intended to do this to protect them both. 

"Tifa! Come back! You're out of my range!" yelled Reeve. 

Tifa dodged another blow, passed under her attacker's arm, and threw it on another one that had just managed to counter the Stop spell. "Just take care of Vincent! Don't worry about me!" she yelled back. 

Reeve was torn between going in the melee to help the young woman and staying there to do as he was told. He decided on the latter, reminding himself that if Cloud had been more hindrance than help to the martial artist, there was no way he could do any better. He concentrated and cast Cure. The green glow of the spell surrounded Vincent, but he did not seem to react. Reeve cast Cure once, twice, a third time, then had to rest for a little bit from the effort. 

Meanwhile, Tifa was still trying to get the metal men to attack her instead of the two men, and was mostly succeeding. However, they were difficult to handle, and she realized that although Cloud had forced her to divide her attention, he still had had some use in diverting her enemies' attention as well. In addition, the enemies seemed to have gained in power and speed all of the sudden, which did not help her any. She wondered whether it had been such a good idea to send Cloud away. Then there was no time to think, as the metallic beings tried to restrain her movements. They nearly succeeded, but she managed to jump out at the last second from the grasp of one of them coming from behind her. In doing the move, however, she miscalculated, and landed too close to one of them. She tried to block a blow to her head, but she was not on sure footing and the metallic arm got past her guard. She was thrown on the ground from the blow's violence, and barely managed to roll out of the way of a vicious kick to her ribs. She got up quickly, head still ringing from the blow, and wondered what in the world was keeping Cloud. 

Just as the question formed in Tifa's mind, she heard the sound of cold steel slicing into metal armor. The attacker in front of Tifa turned to see what was happening, and was promptly sliced in two by Cloud's sword. Cloud's face was a rictus of anger, his teeth showing, as he mercilessly sliced into another of the enemies. Tifa recovered from the blow she had received and joined in. Between her devastating blows and Cloud's deadly sword, they made short work of the remaining attackers. 

Cloud looked around him, senses alert, then seemed to remember something and ran towards the bar. Tifa hesitated, wondering what he thought he was doing, but then remembered: _the others!_ She followed the blond man to the other side of the bar to see the others confronted to roughly thirty of the metal men. They seemed to be holding out; however, Cid was lying on the ground, obviously knocked out, and Nanaki was having problems dealing with his adversaries, his teeth and claws not having much effect on their armor. Yuffie was dodging the attackers and casting spells, but none seemed to have much effect. Cloud ran forward, his expression more controlled now, and cut off several of them. Tifa joined him and finished those he had only nicked. The other AVALANCHE members went on the offensive again and started doing major damage to their assailants. The fight ended in all of forty seconds. 

Still breathing hard, Barret dropped to the ground next to Cid, hoping he was all right. Aeris joined him. She looked at the old pilot intently, then closed her eyes and concentrated. The other members of Avalanche stood by nervously, waiting. A gentle breeze came, seemingly focused around the Cetra and the pilot. After a few moments, it stopped, and Aeris opened her eyes. Cid's own fluttered open. Cloud helped the pilot up. He looked dazed, but unhurt. He thanked Aeris and got a cigarette out. His hands were shaking as he tried to get his lighter to work while the others looked at him with amused grins. Finally, he gave up, dropping the lighter to the ground with an expression of disgust on his face, and looked at his friends' faces around him. They were all grinning, seemingly laughing at him. 

"What are you jackasses starin' at?" he asked gruffly. 

"We're just glad no one was hurt, Cid," replied Aeris softly. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he shot back, somewhat embarrassed by all the attention. "What the heck were those things, anyway?" 

"Robots of some sort?" Aeris ventured. 

"No," replied Nanaki. "There's blood on Cloud's blade and Cid's spear. When they were hurt, they screamed. Humans in armor, maybe? But I should be able to see the flesh from the cut limbs, and all I see is metal... Curious..." 

"Cyborgs," offered a voice behind Cloud. 

Everyone turned to see who had spoken. It was Vincent, looking slightly unstable as he leaned against Reeve. Dry blood caked on his face, but there was obviously no fresh blood coming out of his wounds. Reeve was actually in a worse shape, as he struggled to help Vincent walk. The CEO of Locust, Inc. was not a very strong man, and Vincent weighted a lot more than he did. Still, he held the ex-Turk up without complaint. 

"I'm glad to see you're all right, my friend," said Nanaki. "But what exactly is a cyborg? The word is not familiar to me." 

Vincent disengaged himself from Reeve's grasp and sat down with a suppressed groan. He stayed silent for a bit, looking within himself to recall some evasive bit of memory. Then, in neutral, emotionless tones, he spoke. 

"Cyborgs are humans with machine parts embedded in their body," he began. "Well-chosen, these parts give high strength and speed. It was a Shinra project I thought defunct. Obviously, it isn't." 

"Hold on. Step back a minute," interrupted Cid. "How did you end up with those bozos after you in the first place? It's your gun we heard shooting, right?" 

Vincent nodded, a mere dip of his chin. "That's correct. We have little time, but I'll attempt to summarize the events of the past twenty-four hours or so." 

"After defeating the WEAPON, Reeve and I went our separate ways. I don't know what he's been up to, and he won't tell me," Vincent complained, looking at Reeve briefly. If he shot him a reproachful glare, it was gone in an instant. 

"What I wanted to do was plan our attack on Shinra HQ. I knew the place somewhat, and I hoped that they hadn't blocked off the secret exits that had existed in the old days. Reeve had salvaged the HQ's secret blueprints at some point in the Midgar reconstruction, so I started by looking at it to see if my memory was accurate. It was, and there were only a few exits I hadn't known of. I noted the ones that seemed the best points for going in and decided to check them on site. 

"Most of them had been blocked. Obviously, somebody in Shinra thinks they are safer in a hermetic building than one from which they could escape quickly in case of emergencies. Still, they missed a few I remembered. Which doesn't surprise me, since they are not on the original blueprints. I went in cautiously to see if they had any awareness of those passages, and nothing happened. I got back out and walked out of the city, thinking I had not been spotted. 

"I must have been careless, because it became quickly apparent that I was being followed. I moved towards Kalm. I knew I was hopelessly outnumbered, so I tried to lose them. Each time I thought I had managed, one of those cyborgs would make its presence known. When I entered Kalm, I thought I had lost them. I got out of cover, running towards the bar's door, when they all popped out of nowhere. I fired, but the bullet had little effect." With that, Vincent paused. He seemed to withdraw within himself. Then, slowly, he to his feet. He wasn't wobbling anymore. 

"And then, you were knocked out," Tifa finished for him. 

"Obviously," replied Vincent coldly. "I'm glad you three got me out of that, though," he added, with a hint of warmth in his tone. 

Cloud, who had only frowned silently up to now, suddenly spoke up. "Vincent, you're positive those are from Shinra?" 

"I'm not," Vincent said after a pause. "But I don't know who else could have created those monstrosities." 

"I don't think we can take any chances on this," muttered Cloud. Then, he breathed in heavily, taking his decision. "All right. If those are from Shinra, they know we're on to them. So, I think we should move and storm the complex immediately. We walk in through one of the secret tunnels Vincent has found, raise hell, shut the reactor down, and try to get out alive. Everyone agree?" 

There were nods from everyone around him. 

"OK. Get your stuff, we're going right away," Cloud commanded. 

"What? You really meant _now_?" asked an astonished Reeve. 

"Why not?" retorted Cloud. "Maybe they won't expect us so soon after meeting with those... cyborgs. Maybe they're not quite ready for us and just wanted to delay us. If it's not the case, it doesn't matter whether we do it now or later. But if it is, every hour we waste here is more time for them to get ready! I say we move now, and I mean, _now_!" 

"I concur," agreed Tifa. "Cloud's right. I don't like going in there with little preparation, but we must move quickly. Shinra has been ahead of us since we started after them in Nibelheim. It's time to change that." 

Everyone nodded, and ran to their respective rooms to get ready for the raid. Everyone except Cloud and Tifa, who both had all their stuff on themselves. They rarely carried much into their lives. After the Nibelheim disaster, they both had had nothing, except themselves. 

"Just like old times, eh?" said Cloud, startling Tifa. She had been lost in thought. 

"Yup," Tifa answered with a smile. Cloud smiled back, but the smile did not reach his eyes. 

"What's the matter?" Tifa asked him. 

Cloud sighed. "I don't know... I got that feeling, ever since you came to me in the woods, that we've been led by the nose all along. Now, we're doing something about it, taking the initiative. But I _still_ feel we're being led by the nose. Why is that?" 

Tifa gave him an impish half-grin. "Paranoia?" Then, she grew serious again. "Is there anything we can do about it?" 

Cloud's smile turned wan. "Guess not." 

"C'mon," Tifa said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Let's see if Yuffie managed to fit all that Materia in her backpack." 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	16. Raid On Shinra

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  14. Raid on Shinra 

Reeve was standing on the edge of the sector 3 "pizza plate" (as Barret called it), looking down at the slums below with a nagging sense of _déjà vu_. Seeing how little things had changed, he felt sadness. When he had undertaken to rebuild Midgar, he had hoped the citizens would choose to rebuild it minus the slums. Unfortunately, that would have taken too much time, cost too much money, and the citizens did not seem to care for some odd reason. Midgar was therefore rebuilt as it had been in the past. Reeve let the citizens choose their path. Besides, at the time, he had been very busy with his own corporation, and had had his hands full with managing research for a new source of power. 

He now hoped he had paid more attention. He should have at least dismantled the Mako reactors. He hadn't; it didn't seem to matter at the time. He hadn't thought Shinra would rise from its ashes and revive the machinery. When he had found out, he had thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad; Shinra had done some good in the past. Then, the whole business with Aeris came along, and he had not given the matter any thought; he had been busy fighting a WEAPON, then cyborgs. 

"Reeve?" said a soft, feminine voice nearby. 

Reeve blinked, extracting himself with difficulty from the quicksand of self-doubt that plagued him. He turned and found himself looking deep in Aeris' brilliant green eyes. "Sorry," he apologized. "I was... elsewhere." 

Aeris looked at him with compassion. "You looked troubled about something..." 

"I _am_ troubled," replied the businessman. "If I had been more vigilant, this whole mess would have never happened." 

"I don't understand," said Aeris, frowning slightly. 

"I was the head of the Midgar rebuilding project," Reeve explained. "I should have insisted on dismantling those reactors. I should have made sure that Midgar would be rebuilt right, not in a way that forces unlucky people to live in darkness. I should have..." 

"But you haven't," interrupted Aeris. 

"No," sighed Reeve. "I haven't. I've brought all this to us all." 

"But nobody was hurt permanently," countered Aeris, her tone earnest. "We all came through all right. So why are you blaming yourself?" 

"We didn't come through all right," muttered Reeve. "Cid lost his pride and joy. And from what I gathered, we may have made some enemies among the Ancients in the Lifestream." 

It was Aeris' turn to sigh. "Yes, it's a shame we lost the Highwind. But I'm sure Cid can build another airship, probably better than that one! From what Cloud told me, it was pretty battered from your final battle against Sephiroth already, so it's not that much of a loss." 

"But what about those Ancients?" asked Reeve. 

Aeris avoided his gaze. "I...They're my problem, not anybody else's." 

Reeve looked at her oddly. She had never seen Aeris being anything but totally open with all members of AVALANCHE. It was very obvious she was holding something back. He shrugged, letting the matter go. Nobody had told him that Aeris had had a similar reaction during AVALANCHE's meeting in Mideel. 

"What's keeping Vincent?" Aeris snapped in a rare show of impatience. "He has had time to climb all the way to the top of the tower by now!" 

Reeve felt a breeze on the back of his neck. He turned, and almost lost all balance when he nearly bumped into Vincent. Vincent's normal arm shot out and grabbed him before he fell. 

"Thanks," Reeve muttered, rather embarrassed. He recovered his balance and moved away from the tall man, trying to regain some semblance of dignity. "Have you found what you were looking for?" 

Vincent nodded. The other members of AVALANCHE who had been standing some distance away as sentries began to come closer as they spotted him. Cloud made his way to the front of the group. 

"So, is the coast clear?" asked Cloud curtly. 

Vincent nodded again. "I've gone as far as to cracking the door open. The corridor was deserted." 

"And you're positive this is the closest tunnel to the number three reactor?" asked Cloud; but it was only a formality, as he knew Vincent's thoroughness well. 

"Of course," confirmed Vincent. "All other entries are blocked. From that tunnel, there's about two hundred meters to one of the ventilation ducts leading to the reactor's control room. That's as close as we'll get short of entering the reactor through its exhaust vent. Which would not be a very good idea, given the Mako vapor coming out of there." 

Cloud nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well, then. Let's go. Vincent and Reeve, you go first; you know the place best. Tifa, Yuffie and I will follow to help you deal with any nasty stuff that may be in there. Everybody else, wait five minutes, then scramble in. We'll be right next to the duct, and Vincent will pick you up if all goes well. If we encounter resistance, forget subtlety and just follow the noise of fighting. Any questions?" 

"Yeah," asked Cid. "Why do you get to be point man?" 

"Because I have a bigger weapon than you do," said Cloud, deadpan. Aeris giggled, Yuffie grimaced at the bad joke, Tifa covered her eyes with her hand in despair at hearing that one a second time, and everybody else rolled their eyes. 

"Riiight...Someday, I'll swap that thing with a dagger, your ego's becoming as big as your blade!" retorted Cid. He could not, however, keep an edge of amusement from his voice. _It's lousy humor,_ he thought, _but I guess it's better than nothing, coming from him!_

Cloud smiled, then became serious again. "Seriously, it's because Tifa insisted on coming with me, and I need someone to stay and lead the group in case anything happens," he explained. "Any other questions?" 

"Yes," Aeris piped up. "Why am I stuck in the back guard?" 

"Because Cid needs a good spellcaster with him," answered Cloud. "I need Yuffie, and Tifa's with me, so that leaves you and Red. I trust you'll watch old man Cid's behind for me," he added, smiling slightly. 

"I wish I were coming with you," said Aeris, softly. "I'm rather out of practice..." 

Cloud shrugged. "You're probably better off with Cid and Barret, then. I've grown too reckless." 

"All right," Aeris sighed. "But be careful! And Tifa..." 

"Yes?" asked Tifa. 

"You be careful, too," urged Aeris. 

Tifa smiled back without words. Then she saw Cloud turn towards the tunnel, so she waved at her companions and followed her team. 

* * * 

Vincent cracked the thick metal door open. He looked carefully, and, sensing no danger, opened it wide. The door squeaked slightly, making everyone flinch at the noise. They got out, weapons drawn, but nobody came in response to the noise. Reeve closed the door behind them, careful not to let it bang against the doorframe. 

"Where to now?" asked Yuffie, a bit too loud. Cloud winced visibly. 

"Quiet!" hissed Tifa. "The more noise we do, the quicker they'll know they have intruders!" 

"I asked, where to now?" repeated Yuffie, whispering almost inaudibly. 

"Straight down that corridor," answered Vincent, pointing in front of him, "and then the third duct on our right." He spoke normally, but his voice somehow did not carry. 

"Oh, before I forget," whispered Reeve, "Do not break into a run unless you're in immediate danger." 

"Why?" asked Cloud softly. 

"At this level, there are motion sensors," he explained. "If we move too fast, you can be sure they'll send people to send out." 

"You know this means we can't fight if we encounter guards, right?" Tifa pointed out. 

"Leave that to me," said Reeve. "I'll pretend to be an exec, and you'll be mercenaries off to meet with the sector commander." 

"That's not the best idea you've had, Reeve," whispered Cloud, frowning. 

"I didn't have time to come up with a better one," Reeve hissed back. "You wanted to leave fast, right?" 

Cloud just moved out of Reeve's way. "After you, mister executive," he said without expression. Reeve was not sure whether Cloud was being sarcastic. Then, he decided it did not matter. Trying to project as much cocky self-assurance as he could, despite being scared shitless, he led the way, trying to recapture the casual arrogance of a Shinra senior employee. 

They reached the duct without meeting any Shinra staff, except a couple of technicians who seemed absorbed in some argument and barely acknowledged their existence. Vincent grabbed the gridded cover and, with a swift jerk, jarred it loose. It made surprisingly little noise when it came off the duct. He gave the grid to Yuffie without explanations. Yuffie just held it, puzzled. Then, Vincent jumped in and disappeared for about ten seconds. He wormed his way back out and turned to his friends. 

"Looks clear," he said. 

"All right, let's go in," commanded Cloud. "Vincent first, then Tifa, then me, then Reeve. Yuffie, you're in last; make sure you close that cover properly, then follow us. By the way, you're the one stuck doing this because you're the only one slender enough to turn around in that narrow duct." 

"I hear and obey, oh fearless leader," quipped Yuffie sarcastically. 

Cloud ignored her; he was helping Tifa climb in. Then, he hopped in. Reeve had trouble lifting himself to the right level, and Yuffie forcibly grabbed his pants and threatened to pull them down if he didn't hurry. He got in fast enough after that. Chuckling to herself, Yuffie jumped in after him. She tried snapping the cover in place, but the confounded piece of equipment just jammed, not quite fully in its groove, but not quite out, either. She grunted as she tried to unjam it, but it would not budge. 

"Yuffie! What's keeping you?" hissed Reeve from some distance in front of her. 

"Stupid piece of junk didn't go in properly!" snapped Yuffie, irritated. She then realized she had raised her voice again, and tried to lower it. "I can't get it loose!" 

"You must make sure the top is snapped in first," explained Reeve. "See the little tab on the other sides?" 

"Yeah, what do I do with them?" asked Yuffie. 

"Just pull the bottom one. It should let it loose, but for God's sake, make sure you don't let it drop on the floor!" 

Yuffie followed Reeve's directions, and managed to catch the cover before it fell out of the duct as it practically flew out of its groove. Then, counting down from ten in her native Wutai language to calm herself, she snapped the top tab in, then pulled the cover. It fit in its groove perfectly. Satisfied, she turned around, pushing her Materia bag in front of her. 

"Did you do it?" asked Reeve. He seemed quite a bit further in. 

"Of course I did!" Yuffie shot back. "I'd have done it on my first try if it hadn't been so poorly designed in the first place!" 

"Reeve, watch the detector ahead," Cloud whispered over his shoulder to the businessman. 

Busy trying to coach Yuffie, Reeve did not hear, and his foot brushed some sort of sensor plate. 

"Cloud! Watch out!" yelled Yuffie from behind. 

If the young ninja said anything else, it was drowned in the scream of twisting metal that followed as the duct slanted forward dangerously. Cloud barely had time to spread his legs, trying to use the tip of his boots to keep from slipping forward. Tifa, in front of him, did the same thing; he could see the sparks from the metallic ends of her boots sliding against the duct's walls. Reeve landed on him, and he lost his traction. He recovered it quickly, but not before having slid a couple of meters further down, dangerously close to hitting Tifa. In the confusion, he heard Reeve curse, and Tifa scream in horror. His reflex was to reach for his sword, then he realized that the only thing that'd accomplish is slice off part of Reeve, or jam the blade in the duct's wall. He breathed in deeply. Obviously, something had gone wrong; he had to try to keep his cool and figure out what was going on. His inner ear was telling him that the duct had slanted to a 45 degree angle; how the hell had that happened? Probably Reeve had triggered something inadvertently. He considered the next data point. 

"Tifa! What's the matter?" he yelled forward. 

"Vincent fell out of the duct!" replied Tifa. 

"No, I haven't," said a familiar voice ahead. "I'm just hanging in mid-air." 

"You OK?" asked Cloud. 

"Fine, but my arm is getting tired," Vincent replied. 

"Hang in there," said Cloud. Then, over his shoulder: "Yuffie! What the hell happened?" 

"I don't know!" yelled Yuffie. She was definitely not happy at this turn of events. "The joint between your duct section and mine grew hot, and then, all of the sudden, it detached! But it stopped just next to my bag, and..." 

She never had the chance to finish her sentence. The smell of burnt rubber got to her nose, and she suddenly understood what had detached the duct section, and why the bottom had remained there. The section had been detached through a heat-based mechanism, and the rubber of her bag had melted and stopped the process...for a while. She screamed a warning to her friends mere fractions of second before the rubbery material of her bag gave out and the rest of the duct's joint broke. The whole pipe detached itself and fell. It was closely followed by Materia orbs falling out of a wide gash in the bottom of her bag. The section of ventilation duct housing Cloud, Tifa, Reeve and Vincent tumbled down in a rain of colored orbs. Yuffie looked at the scene, and the only thought that would come to her was that it was the prettiest sight she had ever seen. 

* * * 

Barret was restless. He was pacing back and forth, back and forth, making everyone nervous. 

"Wallace, quit it!" snapped Cid. 

Barret stopped pacing, and started punching the concrete wall closest to him. Then, realizing how useless that was, he stopped and turned to Cid. "I'm sure the time's up, now!" he said. 

Cid shook his head. "Nope. Still three minutes." The pilot took a long drag out of his cigarette, then dropped the butt on the ground and stamped it with his heel. It took him all his willpower not to light another right away. 

"How can you stay so cool about it, dammit?" bellowed Barret. 

"I'm _not_ cool about it," retorted Cid. "I've almost smoked a whole pack in twelve minutes. Do you really think I'm so cool about it?" 

"Then why won't you _do_ something?" 

Cid sighed. "Barret, listen. Cloud said fifteen minutes, so we wait fifteen minutes, and that's the end of it." 

"Uuurgh!" protested Barret, throwing his arms up in disgust. 

Cid shook his head wearily, then looked at his other companions. Aeris looked relatively calm, but he knew she wasn't by the set of her jaw. Only Nanaki seemed to be able to wait in repose, probably contemplating some philosophical insight. Deciding that his red-fured friend did not need as much comfort as the pretty young Cetra, Cid sat next to Aeris. 

"Worried?" he inquired softly. 

Aeris turned to him and tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. "Yes," she replied. 

"Don't worry too much about them. We've all been through a lot of scraps, and Cloud and Tifa are the best among us," Cid assured her. 

"Why are _you_ worried, then?" asked Aeris, managing a smile this time. 

It was Cid's turn to grimace. "So, OK, I lied. You have reason to worry. We don't know what's inside that damn building, and it's drivin' me nuts!" 

Aeris grinned. "Thanks, Cid." 

Cid looked flabbergasted. "Huh? Why?" 

"For telling me it's okay to be worried," she replied. 

"I aim to please," said Cid dryly. His watch buzzed. He looked at it, wondering what was wrong with that piece of junk, then it dawned on him that he had set the timer fifteen minutes ago. He jumped to his feet. 

"All right, time's up! Let's move out!" the pilot said with enthusiasm. Barret immediately stopped brooding and ran to the tunnel's mouth. Cid was following closely. Aeris and Nanaki essentially ate their dust. 

Aeris got up and dusted herself. She turned to Nanaki. "Boys will be boys..." Then she ran after the two men. 

"Indeed," agreed Nanaki as he padded in the tunnel. He didn't want to admit it, but it took quite a bit of his willpower not to sprint at full speed as well, rushing to the rescue. 

* * * 

"Are you all right?" 

Reeve opened his eyes, dazed. His right arm was throbbing in pain. He saw Vincent looking at him in the darkness. He tried to sit up, but pain shot up his right arm; he felt bones grate against each other. _My arm is broken,_ he thought. 

"I think my arm is broken," he said aloud. "Hurts like hell, anyways." 

Vincent took a Restore orb from Reeve's gun and applied a Cure spell. The pain in Reeve's arm subsided, but he still couldn't use his arm. Vincent frowned, then understood: the orb was young, so it did not have enough power to mend bones. 

"Tifa! Cloud! I need a better Restore Materia!" said Vincent. 

Tifa came up to Reeve, a worried look on her face. "Cloud's looking for some of Yuffie's. All of her orbs fell at the same time we did, somehow." 

"But if they did, shouldn't they be easy to find?" wondered Reeve aloud. 

"It's not that simple," whispered Tifa. Reeve suddenly noticed she was dripping wet. "There's some sort of pool of liquid here. Water, maybe, but I'd rather not do a taste test. That broke our fall. But the bottom is some sort of sludge, and finding orbs in that is not really easy." She looked at Reeve and noticed by the set of his jaw that he was in pain. "Hey, are you all right?" 

"Broken arm," said Vincent in a neutral tone. "My Materia's not powerful enough to heal it. The bone is out of alignment, and I'm worried it will mend like that if I apply the Cure spell once more." 

"I can set it," said Tifa. "But it's gonna hurt, Reeve. A lot." 

Reeve closed his eyes, considering that. If he waited for Cloud to find the Materia, it would take more time, but it wouldn't hurt at all. On the other hand, who knew what was in the pool? He decided he did not want to be a burden to them. He set his jaw and took his decision. 

"Set it," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "Get it over with." 

"You sure?" asked Tifa. 

"Yes," Reeve replied. There was no waver in his voice this time. 

Tifa took Reeve's arm carefully. Then, with one swift move, she set the bones back into position. Reeve screamed in pain. Vincent was there immediately with his Restore Materia; the pain subsided. A few more applications of the spell, and Reeve felt his bones heal. He sat up. 

"Thank you, both of you," he said. 

Tifa mumbled something about "just doing the right thing," and Vincent said nothing. Reeve got up, and looked around. They were all standing in a large room; in the darkness, its dimensions were difficult to evaluate, but it seemed to be roughly square with sides of about 150 meters. Now that the pain in his arm had subsided, Reeve could smell the stench of heavy Mako use in the chamber. It smelled like ozone, with a touch of sulfur and burnt rubber. He was standing on a narrow ledge (about two meters wide) on the edge of the pool. The pool's liquid gave a very faint blue-green glow, like that of the Lifestream, but somehow, the color was slightly off, and it seemed... sick. As he looked towards the center of the pool, he saw Cloud's blond head come out, gasping for breath. Strangely enough, his hair still stood somewhat straight, despite being as wet as Tifa's. He swam quickly to the edge. 

"Here," he said, producing five Materia orbs. "That's all I could find. I'm blind down there--the liquid puts my eyes on fire, and I can't see spit!" 

"We should vaporize the liquid in the pool," suggested Vincent. We could find the Materia more easily that way." 

"Good idea," replied Cloud. "Maybe there's a Fire orb in there," he muttered as he pawed through the meager collection of orbs he had. There was an Ice orb, the Leviathan summon orb, an Ultima orb, and two Bolt orbs. No Fire. Cloud cursed loudly. 

"Helloooo! Anybody still alive down there?" yelled a high-pitched voice from above. Tifa recognized the voice immediately. 

"Yuffie! Are you all right?" she yelled back. 

"Well, I lost almost all my Materia, but I'll live!" the young ninja replied. "Can you see my orbs down there?" 

"They're in the bottom of a pool of some sort of liquid," said Cloud. "Do you happen to have a Fire orb?" 

"Just a minute," said Yuffie. A few seconds later, she had her answer. "You're in luck, Spike--I got one! Why?" 

"Cast it down there! Vincent suggested that we vaporize the liquid so we can recover the rest of the Materia!" 

There was no reply. Cloud wondered what was happening, but then Tifa tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. Cloud looked in the direction she was indicating, and saw the yellow glow of spellcasting. He covered his eyes. Not a moment too soon: the chamber erupted in flames. But instead of the sizzle of a liquid evaporating under intense heat, he heard a loud, low-pitched shriek. Instinctively, he unsheathed his sword. He gave a quick glance towards Tifa and Vincent, and saw Vincent unholster his gun and Tifa crouch in her fighting stance. He heard Reeve curse behind him; no doubt, he was struggling with his gun holster. Senses alert, Cloud carefully waded in the pool. He got about waist deep when a deafening roar was heard in front of him, followed by a splash. Tifa screamed Cloud's name as he disappeared beneath the liquid's surface. He resurfaced, trashing, trying to untangle his sword from some sort of silk-like strands. 

"Cloud! Take my hand!" yelled Tifa as she rushed in the water. Vincent let out a rare curse as she did that; he felt it was not a very good idea. He tried to distinguish shapes in the water. He chose the shape that was most plausibly part of what he assumed to be a monster attacking Cloud, took aim, and fired several shots. Cloud grasped Tifa's hand. There was a roar, a splash, and both Cloud and Tifa found themselves thrown on the pool's edge, missing Reeve by mere inches. They landed pretty hard, side by side. Cloud's sword clattered away and slid to the edge, almost falling down in the water. There were still some strands attached to it. More joined them, and the sword was pulled into the pool. Dazed, Cloud got up, then realized what was happening. 

"Oh, no, you don't!" he said, running to the edge and diving to get his blade before it dipped below the surface. He got it just in time, got up, and then realized he had a problem. 

The strands were more solid then they looked. Because of their mass and resilience, he could not move the sword fast enough to slice them off. Individually, the strands were flimsy, but somehow, when they merged, they got much stronger. Cloud cursed, trying to move his sword out of the grasp of the thin strands and failing. He was jerking the blade around, but more and more strands were added, and he was on the verge of losing his own grip on the sword. Tifa saw it, and came to his aid. But it was too late by then; the strands were strong enough to match their combined strength. Suddenly, the strands contracted. Tifa lost her grip, but Cloud obstinately held on. So, when the sword plunged in, Cloud lost his footing and followed, plunging headfirst in the pool. 

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled. "Hold on!" She concentrated on the Ice orb she had in her holder, and cast the strongest Ice spell, hoping she wouldn't hit Cloud. 

Nothing happened. 

Vincent was right next to her, and saw her expression grow alarmed. "What is it?" he asked. 

"I can't cast anything! My Materia's not working!" she replied, trying to stave off the panic she felt. 

Vincent tried to cast Ultima using one of the orbs Cloud had recovered, but it had no effect. He tried the Leviathan orb, with no success. 

"Mine don't work either," said Vincent. 

"But you cast Cure on Reeve just seconds ago!" protested Tifa. 

"It was one of mine," said Reeve. "Why--Wait! That's it! All the orbs that went in the pool won't work! This pool is where they stick the wastes from the Mako reactors, and our orbs got contaminated by a dead Mako coating!" 

"What orbs do you have?" asked Vincent. 

"Restore, Stop, Barrier, and Lightning," replied Reeve. 

"Try Bolt," suggested Vincent. 

"NO!" yelled Tifa. "If this liquid conducts like water, you'll fry Cloud too!" 

"Ah, damn!" cursed Reeve. "And it does conduct current very well!" He looked up. "Hey, Yuffie!" he called. "Yuffie? Answer me, dammit!" 

There was no response. 

Tifa set her jaw and dived in. Reeve tried to stop her, but he wasn't fast enough. The martial artist swam strongly towards the spot where Cloud had disappeared. 

"Shit!" cursed Reeve. "What now?" he asked Vincent. 

Vincent did not reply. He took his shotgun out and started pumping shells in the dark mass. _Well, I guess there's no other choice,_ thought Reeve as he took his own gun out and took aim, trying to hit the spot the farthest away from Tifa. The deafening sound of gunshots from both weapons reverbated back and forth in the chamber. It was followed by an even more deafening roar, and a tidal wave formed in the pool. Tifa plunged in the liquid to avoid it, but Reeve and Vincent had nowhere to go, and the wave floored them both. 

"That's just great," complained Reeve getting up. "Now my Materia won't work either! And what are they both _doing_ in there?" 

"I hope they'll get out soon," said Vincent calmly. "The water jammed the firing mechanism of my shotgun." 

Just as they said that, another wave built up. Cloud and Tifa were both thrown out of the liquid and came down on the ledge with a crash, as before. This time, however, Cloud kept hold of his sword. He got up immediately. 

"Playtime's over!" he hissed. He gathered his strength, then, quicker than the eye could follow, he ran in the pool. A dark shape could be seen emerging. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Reeve. He had been preparing to cast Bolt. But Cloud wasn't listening. 

The blond man ran to the dark mass that was coming out of the pool to meet him. Several strands tried to entangle him, but he drove on, sword forwards, slicing them off as they reached him. He reached the monster. Then, like a man possessed, he slashed, then slashed again, and again, and again. After a dozen strokes, he jumped high in the air and, in a blinding flash of light, he sliced downwards, rendering the mass in two. It was all over by the time Reeve had reloaded his gun to lend a hand. His jaw was almost dropping to the floor as Cloud surfaced, a tired smile on his face. Tifa gave him her arm. He gratefully took it, and she helped him out of the pool. 

"Cloud... How did you..." stammered Reeve. 

"Oh, you didn't know? When he's really mad, Cloud does this. That's how he killed Sephiroth," said Tifa. 

"No, I didn't know!" replied Reeve. "Cloud? Remind me never to get you angry!" 

Cloud just smiled. He looked around. "Well, how are we gonna get out of here?" he asked. 

"We can't get out without the Materia," Vincent pointed out. 

"Oh, right..." replied Cloud. He looked up. "Yuffie? Yo! Yuffie!" he yelled. There was no answer. 

"I don't know what happened--I tried that before, but something must've happened to her," said Reeve. 

Suddenly, a deep voice boomed from above. "Cloud, izzat you?" 

"Barret?" Tifa yelled. 

"Yo! You guys all right?" Barret asked. 

"We had some problems, but we're fine now," replied Cloud. "Where's Yuffie?" 

"You mean, she's not down there?" Barret asked, surprised. 

Tifa, Reeve and Cloud exchanged worried glances. 

"No, she was up there last time we talked," Cloud finally replied. "I guess something must've happened to her!" 

"Shit! She's always getting in trouble, that one!" Cid said, loud enough to be heard below. "Hey, you want us to send a rope?" the pilot asked. 

"Yeah, but first, does anyone have good Fire Materia?" asked Tifa. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	17. Showdown

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  15. Showdown 

"Why do _I_ get to lug this damn bag around?" Reeve complained. 

Cloud sighed and turned to him. "Because you're the only long-distance fighter who's able to carry what we salvaged off Yuffie's backpack. Vincent and Barret are too wide. And if it comes to a fight, I want the hand-to-hand people free of any burden." 

"Why lug around that useless Materia anyhow?" asked Tifa. 

"I'd rather not leave it in Midgar," Cloud explained. "I'm worried someone will snatch it. And it may be salvageable." Then, smiling, "And Yuffie would kill us." 

Tifa smiled back. "Point." She turned to Reeve. "Sorry, Reeve, you're stuck with it!" 

Reeve grumbled some more for form, then shut up. 

The troop was walking in one of the old train tunnels, trying to reach reactor 3. They had looked around for Yuffie, then given up; they assumed she had been captured by the Shinra. They could only hope she'd escape before things got ugly. 

The tunnels were as they had been two years before. Gloomy, barely lit by failing neon lights, with steam coming out of various gratings. The rail was slippery from condensed steam, as the heaters had not been turned on down here, most likely to save the precious energy coming out from the only working reactor. Cloud heard Reeve curse as he slipped once again, unbalanced by the orbs on his back. Aeris helped him up, trying very hard not to giggle. 

They walked through a couple more sections. Then, Cloud opened the door in front of him, and they were there. Huge pipes running in seemingly chaotic directions were all converging towards the ground, which was glowing an intense blue-white where the pipes entered it. Mako steam was seeping out of the ground. 

"I hoped I'd never see one of those things working again," muttered Barret unhappily. 

The others stayed silent. Unsheathing his sword, Cloud started to climb the stairs that led to the reactor's control chamber. Warily, the others followed, weapons ready. 

Aeris was more wary than the others; she had never been in a Shinra Mako reactor, so the layout was not familiar. Plus, the whole place made her feel profoundly uneasy. There was something... unwholesome about the place. It wasn't just the pain she was feeling through her link to the Planet; it was also a sick feeling in her stomach, like the feeling one gets looking at any weapon of mass destruction. Although the reactors were used in mostly peaceful ways, they were still a weapon against the Planet's spirit energy. Apart from the WEAPONs, the Planet was defenseless against the reactor. Well, not quite defenseless, if AVALANCHE counted as a means of defense. 

That thought made her uneasy for some reason. Why? Was it something she had learned in the Lifestream but did not remember now? Her whole memory of the two years in there were quite jumbled, and that bothered her. 

Without realizing it, Aeris had fallen behind. She suddenly realized Tifa was next to her, wearing a worried look. 

"Is something wrong?" asked the martial artist. 

Aeris shook her head. "Not really. Something's been bothering me, that's all. It's probably nothing, really." 

"Are you sure?" asked Tifa. "Does this have anything to do with that man in a white cloak?" 

Aeris frowned. "What man in a white cloak?" 

"The one I met in the Mideel cave," explained Tifa. "When I mentioned him when I recounted what had happened, you seemed scared, for some reason." 

Aeris shook her head again. "No. Well... maybe it's related. But I don't think that's it." 

Tifa paused. Then: "Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" 

Aeris gave her a sad smile. "I'm not event sure I know myself. I need to think about it... But now is not the time, don't you think?" 

Tifa frowned. "Fine, then. It's just that...You never hid anything from us. Why are you doing it now?" 

Aeris felt sad. She truly wanted to tell her, but... No. "Until I'm sure, I don't think there's a point. Tell you what: once I know, you'll be the first I tell it to. Deal?" 

Tifa paused. Then, she sighed, and said, very softly, "You've changed, Aeris." 

Aeris had no time to reply. She saw movement through the metallic grid floor above her, but Cloud had not opened the door yet. 

"Cloud! Look out!" she screamed. Tifa looked up, saw what Aeris was seeing, then, without a word, ran upstairs. 

Aeris' warning had came just in time. Cloud narrowly avoided a gunshot aimed at him. Catlike, he moved to the guard holding the machine gun and sliced his cannon neatly in two. The guard looked at the shortened cannon stupidly, and when he lifted his eyes from it, all he saw was Cloud's fist coming at him. The guard dropped to the floor, unconscious. 

Other guards were attacking, and Cloud was trying to get out of the doorframe so his friends could be of some help. However, the guards inside were no fool, and knew that as much trouble the sword-wielding man in front of them was, they'd have even more trouble if his friends managed to come in. So the guards swarmed Cloud, trying to restrain his breathing room, making sure it was difficult for him to maneuver his huge blade without wounding himself or his friends behind him. Barret was right behind Cloud, trying to get a clear shot, but Cloud was moving fast, trying to outsmart the guards. Barret knew that in such close quarters, his arm could get bumped and he'd fire his bullets somewhere unwanted. He was about to get Nanaki to move up, but then a hand gently moved him out of the way. 

Cloud was trying to get enough swing in his sword to hurt one of the guards so he'd have some breathing room. He raised his sword, knowing that if they charged, he'd be unbalanced and would probably wound Barret, but he saw no other way. He felt a gloved arm on his upper arm, then saw Tifa rush by and run her palm in the closest guard's solar plexus. 

"Thanks," Cloud said. Tifa had just given him the breathing room he had needed. He swung his blade, cutting down one guard and wounding another. Then, making wide arcs with his sword--more with the intention to scare than to hurt--he moved out of the door. Nanaki jumped through and became a red ball of teeth and claws, spreading panic and confusion among the Shinra. Cid and Aeris followed, and them pandemonium ensued. For a while, it seemed the numbers of the guards had the potential to overpower the small group of AVALANCHE members, but Cloud and Cid were both swinging very wide arcs that wounded quite a lot of people, sapping their will to fight. And the guards that were dealt with by Tifa, Nanaki or Aeris stayed down after their passage. After a couple of minutes, the tides were turning. Enough room had been cleared by then, so Barret signaled Reeve and Vincent, and they all came in, guns blazing. The commotion was much higher than the actual damage, but that left them at the mercy of Cloud's blade and Cid's spear, which were now picking off guards one by one. 

"Stop!" 

A strong, commanding female voice had spoken the words. The guards stopped all resistance. AVALANCHE kept their weapons out, but stopped fighting. Reeve was straining to see over Barret's massive shoulder; he had a pretty good idea who had spoken. Then he saw her and knew he had been right. 

The speaker was a tall, rather thin woman with striking red hair pulled severely back in a ponytail. She was wearing a white business suit and a matching leg-length skirt. Her high heels clicked on the metal floor as she came forward. She held her back straight and her chin up, with the poise and assurance of high-class aristocracy. Her piercing blue eyes spoke of a strong will and of a personality that didn't give a damn whether you existed or not. 

Katya Shinra. 

"Well, well, well," she said, a wry amusement discernible in her voice. "If it isn't the terrorists who are coming back to bomb my reactors. Not this time!" 

"We're not here to bomb it," protested Cloud. "But we must shut it down." 

"Why should I believe that?" she said. One could almost feel the ice in her voice. "And if it's true, why should I let you?" 

Cloud shrugged. "It's not as if you have a choice," he pointed out. "Your guards are no match for us. We'll eventually manage to enter the control room. That reactor is hurting the Planet, so we'll shut it down." 

"And then?" 

"Then we leave you alone," Cloud replied. "That is, unless you manage to jump-start another one. In that case, we'll be forced to dismantle it somehow. I'd rather not bomb them, but if it becomes necessary..." The threat hung heavy in his voice. 

"You'd kill innocent people just so the Planet feels more comfortable?" Katya asked, her voice conveying detached amusement. 

"Of course not!" bellowed Barret. "We'll tell people to evacuate before we detonate," he added at a more normal volume. "We're not cold-blooded murderers!" 

Katya eyed him icily. "You were once," she said quietly. Barret found nothing to answer that. 

"But I suppose you aren't," said Cloud earnestly. "If you aren't, you'll let us shut that damn thing down, and that'll be the end of it!" 

"And I'm supposed to give in to the threat of losing my property?" asked Katya. 

"It's your choice," replied Cloud obstinately. 

"I won't be the one detonating the charges--you will be, mister terrorist," she snapped. 

"And _you'll_ be the murderer of the whole Planet," said Aeris hotly. 

"That's your perspective," replied Katya. She paused, then walked to a nearby window that was overlooking the reactor's core. AVALANCHE members turned, watching her warily. Then, she said, "Mine is a million people in a single city--and that's just the plates, mind you, not the slums--who need electrical power. Lots of it. If they don't get it, they die. This is winter, folks, and Midgar is not a place where you can cut wood and build a fire. If I shut this reactor down, they'll die of cold, and maybe of hunger." She turned back to Cloud, pointing an accusing finger at him. "And _you_, my dear terrorists, will have killed them. As surely as if you had bombed the whole city, or dropped all plates on their heads." 

"It's not as bad as you're trying to make it, Katya," said Reeve, squeezing past Barret. "We can move them out. We can supply other sources of power. We did, last year, and Midgar went through winter without too many hitches. Let us through, and we'll discuss those plans." 

Katya gave him a look full of disdain. "Mr...Reeve, is that it? The cream puff in charge of Locust Inc.? The traitor?" 

"That's right, except on the cream puff part, or so I believe," answered Reeve dryly. 

"I won't discuss terms with terrorists, even less with a traitor," Katya hissed. 

"Too bad," snapped Cloud. "We're going in. Stay out of our way, and no one will get hurt." He walked towards the stairs leading up. 

"Just a minute," said Katya. She motioned in the direction of a guard who was standing in shadows. The guard came forward, holding someone. 

"Yuffie!" gasped Aeris. 

The young ninja was handcuffed and gagged, and the guard was shoving her forward roughly. He was holding a gun to her temple. The gun's safety was off. 

Katya smiled rather smugly at Cloud. "This is one of your friends, I take it?" 

Cloud stopped walking. Then, visibly controlling his fury, he turned around. "I hope like hell you didn't hurt her, or I'll kill you," he said simply. 

"Oh, I've treated it better than she deserved," said Katya dismissively. "Quite lively, that young lady. Almost slipped from our grasps despite being outnumbered with nowhere to go but through a broken ventilation duct. But regardless...I'm not beyond telling Mr. Evans here to pull the trigger if you take one more step towards this door." 

"You cold-blooded, kidnapping, stuck-up..." began Cid. 

"Spare me your meaningless insults," she interrupted. "Well, then, I don't normally deal with terrorists, but I'll do it this time, since you _are_ able to overpower my men. Leave this place, give me all your Materia and weapons, and I'll release the young one to you." 

"Please, I beg of you!" said Aeris, surprising everyone. "Shut down that reactor! There's no need for this!" 

Katya shook her head. "No. I'm not shutting it down, now or ever. Why should I? I have my bargaining chip right here, and you have nothing to bargain her with!" 

_Damn,_ thought Cloud. _Stalemate. What do I do now?_

But as soon as he formulated those thoughts, he heard a groan from the guard, and saw that Yuffie was loose! He tensed, preparing to shield her body with his. But Aeris was faster and cast Barrier on her. The guard fired his gun, but the bullet bounced off the magical barrier harmlessly. Yuffie ran forward, and Aeris got in front of her. Cloud noticed the young ninja had freed one of her wrists from the handcuffs. She didn't bother taking her gag off; she just stayed very close to Aeris, trembling for some reason. Probably because she had thought she was a goner when the gun went off. 

Cloud turned to Katya. It was his turn to look smug, but he resisted the temptation to do so. "Looks like your bargaining chip didn't like being held against her will," he said. 

Katya's eyes shot knives at him. "Very well, then. Shut that reactor down. Kill everyone in the city. Send them back to the dark ages. But _I_ won't be the one who'll shut this thing down," she concluded, jutting her jaw forward defiantly. "And you may encounter a lot more resistance than you've thought you would," she added. With that, she snapped her fingers, and the back door opened. 

Out came three figures. One, the only woman of the group, wore her blond hair short; her eyes scanned the room, and fell on Cloud. The fury that could be read in them was incredible. The second figure was a red-haired man who moved with the casual ease of someone trying to sucker his enemies in thinking he was weak. The last figure, a bald, strongly built man wearing sunglasses, carried himself with the self-assurance of a man trained to hand-to-hand combat. All three figures wore blue suits. 

They were the Turks: Elena, Reno, and Rude. 

"As I recall," began Cloud, "last time we met those three, they didn't hold up to us. What makes you believe they will this time?" 

"I'll show you some holding up, you murderer!" said Elena hotly. 

"Calm down, Elena," snapped Katya. "You're welcome to believe you can beat them. Still, they won't make things easy on you. And you shouldn't forget all my guards. You see, I'm pretty sure you will succeed in shutting down this reactor; but Shinra will go down fighting. I won't just give up!" 

Cloud shrugged, unsheathed his sword and prepared to move towards the Turks, when Reeve spoke up. "You won't reconsider? Even if I tell you I have a source of energy that could replace Mako?" 

Katya seemed to hesitate, but then her assurance returned. "There's no such thing." 

It was Reeve's turn to shrug. He reached into his jacket and took out an envelope. He threw it to Katya's feet. She just looked at it, then looked up at Reeve suspiciously. 

"Open it, for chrissake," he said. "It's not a letter bomb! It's that energy source I talked about." 

Still looking at Reeve, she bent down and took the envelope. She opened it and got the largish document in it. 

"Geothermal energy?" she read aloud. "That never worked properly! Too expensive to dig!" 

"Ah, but was it too expensive to dig for Mako?" asked Reeve. 

"That was different," snapped Katya. 

"Was it?" asked Reeve rhetorically. "But it doesn't matter now, does it? _The holes are already made!_ Just dismantle the reactor, stick a water circulation system and a turbine, and you're all set!" 

Katya was starting to believe it, but she was still skeptical. "Surely it's not as efficient as Mako," she pointed out. 

"Of course not," replied Reeve. "Still, I managed 75% of Mako reactor performance at the old Gongaga reactor. Surely this is plenty to assure the power needs of Midgar. Plus, in Midgar, we can reuse the existing pipes, something I couldn't do in Gongaga. We could build a working central in a couple of weeks. Midgar can surely make do with more classical energy sources for heating in the meantime, if its inhabitants are careful not to waste power." 

The set in Katya's face was starting to soften as she saw new possibilities. "And you got it working in Gongaga?" 

"Take the tape that's in the envelope," replied Reeve. "This is a sealed security tape. The seal guarantees it hasn't been tampered with. You're aware of the process, right?" 

"Yes," answered Katya. 

"Good. Now, play it." 

Katya wordlessly gave the tape to the guard who had held Yuffie. The guard walked to a nearby console and inserted the tape. It played on a small screen, and Katya turned to look at it, Reeve standing behind her (and barely being able to see; Katya was as tall as he was). The screen showed a geothermal turbine in all its silent, non-polluting glory. The view zoomed on a power reading, and it was reading quite high. 

"Of course, we had to add an extra load on the line to get this power reading," explained Reeve. "Citizens of Gongaga have given up on modern power plants long ago, so they are not really using a lot of its capacity. This was the most we were able to draw from the plant short of drawing current through a short circuit. My engineers tell me it can draw at least 30 more megawatts." 

"How long did it take to build this?" whispered Katya. 

"Three months. It's a rush job, so it doesn't generate as much power as I hoped, but the citizens of Gongaga don't care. It took one and a half month just to clear the debris, and almost a full month to fine-tune. Two weeks is probably optimistic, but I think we can do pretty close to that, given that we've worked the glitches out of the system on the prototype," answered Reeve. 

Katya was looking at the screen in wonder. Then, she turned to Reeve and laughed. The laugh sounded like "Kya-ha-ha!" and was quite similar to Scarlett's laugh. That set every AVALANCHE member's nerves on edge. That also left little doubt who was the mother of the young woman standing in front of Reeve--obviously, she had been born from the former head of the Shinra weapons division. 

"All right, Reeve, you've convinced me. The citizens won't be happy I cut the power, but I'll manage to get them to take it. How much do I have to pay to get the plans to this generator?" she asked. 

"I'll give the plans for free, and I'll lend technical help," replied Reeve. "But I want 25% of all your profits on sale of power." 

Katya laughed again. "Gosh, Reeve, that's skinning me alive, but I'll pay! You have a deal!" 

They shook hands. Everyone in the room relaxed. Then Cid started to applaud. He was quickly followed by Aeris, Yuffie, Cloud and Tifa. Even Barret eventually overcame his reluctance and clapped his hand on his gun-arm. Only Nanaki did not applaud, for he was not equipped to do it. The Turks didn't join in, however, maintaining their air of cool reserve. 

"You know, Reeve, there's one thing I must tell you," said Katya, still holding Reeve's hand in a solid businesswoman's handshake. Reeve looked at her quizzically. 

"I was wrong. You're not a cream puff," she said with a smile. 

Reeve smiled back. 

That's when all the lights turned to red, and an alert klaxon sounded. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	18. The Floating City Is Sinking

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  16. The floating city is sinking 

"What the hell is that?" bellowed Cid as he looked up, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. 

"Plate release system alarm," answered Reeve, blanching. "All plates will be released in thirty minutes!" 

"What? Who activated this?" demanded Cloud. 

"Mr. Evans?" said Katya in a question as she turned to her bodyguard. 

The bodyguard was nowhere to be seen. 

"I guess that's your answer," Cid pointed out. "If I had that jackass right in front of me, I'd..." 

"He got out when Reeve was giving you the numbers on the efficiency of those geothermal doohickies," Reno cut in helpfully. 

"Why didn't you say something?" snapped Katya. 

Reno shrugged. "Wasn't that part of the plan?" 

Reeve frowned. "What plan? Do you mean..." 

"No!" protested Katya forcefully. 

"Please, Reeve, I want to know what you were going to say," asked Tifa, frowning. 

"...you planned to bring all those plates down in the first place?" finished Reeve, his voice quavering on the last few words. "How could you?" 

"It was only a contingency plan!" pleaded Katya. "I drafted it, but I never had the intention to..." 

"And to think I thought I could thrust you for a few minutes!" hissed Reeve bitterly. 

"You can! I..." 

"We're wasting time," Cloud cut in. "Katya, you better have a damn good reason for this, but we'll sort this out later. Right now, we have to stop this! How do we do that, Reeve?" 

"I hope like hell they haven't changed the layout," muttered Reeve as he took some plans out of his jacket and unfolded them on the floor. Cid, Nanaki, Tifa, Aeris and Cloud gathered around. The others stayed up by some unsaid agreement, keeping a wary eye on the Turks. 

"OK, this is the deal," Reeve began. "There are multiple places where one can start the release cycle, but only one of them within headquarters. In all cases, to shut down the cycle, we have to go to the terminal where it was enabled. There's one terminal per sector, plus one in headquarters. All are in very well defended positions, although because of the little power that's available to the city right now, I'm pretty sure most defense systems will be inoperative." 

"What do those systems consist of?" asked Cid. 

"You must have seen them before," replied Reeve. "Energy guns, force fields, et cetera. Maybe they got beefed up, but I don't know where they'd get power. I don't think they'll be trouble." 

"Maybe, maybe not," said Cloud. "It's not really important; we'll deal with those when we get to them. Continue, please." 

"Well, I don't think anybody plans to walk all the sectors trying to find which one they used to trigger the cycle," said Reeve. "So we better figure out which one they got into. I'm pretty sure they're in the one to headquarters." 

"Why?" asked Cid, frowning. 

"Uh, Cid," said Tifa gently, "if you're going to have plates falling down, wouldn't you rather not be standing on any of them?" 

Cid turned to her, then closed his eyes in a disgusted expression, feeling pretty stupid. 

"They are in headquarters, Reeve," Katya cut in. 

Cloud turned to her. "I'm sorry, but your credibility is rather low right now, miss Shinra. Why should we believe you?" 

Katya looked hurt, but quickly regained her composure. Then, slowly, icily, she said, "I don't want the citizens of Midgar to die any more than you do, mister ex-terrorist. I don't want to die myself, either." 

"Or maybe you just don't want to die yourself," Barret interrupted. "Headquarters is the only safe place, so you want to move there!" 

Katya blinked at the verbal jab and looked down. When she looked back up, she stared straight in Cloud's eyes, her gaze intense. "Mr. Wallace is right. It does look like a conflict of interest. Very well. I'll stay here and guard this room. I'll keep two of the Turks with me for protection; you'll need the third to disarm the system." She smiled sadly. "This way, my best interests are definitely for you to succeed," she concluded. 

Cloud considered this. He turned to Tifa. She thought about it, then nodded. He turned to Cid, who only shrugged. Finally, he turned to Reeve. The businessman seemed about to say something, but he remained silent and nodded. Cloud sighed, then said, "All right. Which Turk comes with us?" 

Elena stepped forward, and, turning to Katya, said, "I'd like to go with them, ma'am, with your permission." 

Katya shook her head. "No, Elena. You've shown a surprising lack of control when it comes to those people. I don't want you to compromise the mission." 

"Ma'am!" protested Elena, hurt that her professionalism would be questioned. 

"Rude will go," decided Katya. 

Rude nodded silently and walked to Cloud. Cloud turned to the others. "All right. We'll run for it. Let's just hope that's where Evans is. Let's go." 

With that, he ran out of the room. The others followed, Nanaki and Reeve last. But just as Nanaki was about to exit the room, a security door slammed down. Nanaki barely jumped back in time to avoid getting his muzzle smashed. Aeris, who had been right after Nanaki, spun and saw what had happened. 

"Hold!" she yelled, her normally soft voice showing surprising strength. The others turned in surprise. Cid cursed, and Cloud ran to the door, Rude following closely. 

The blond man turned to the Turk. "How the hell did that happen?" 

"Evans must have gained control of the security grid of the sector," he replied, his voice betraying no emotion. 

"I'm gonna cut through," said Cloud, his hand reaching to his sword's handle. 

Rude's arm shot out to hold Cloud's. The swordsman's head turned to the Turk, eyes filled with cold fury at the liberty the Shinra employee was taking. Rude paid no heed. "Not a good idea," he explained. "Cut through, and one million volts go through you." 

"How do I know you're not lying?" snapped Cloud hotly. "How do I know this wasn't part of Katya's plan, so she could get out of there?" 

"If this were the case, the door would have closed after both Red XIII and Reeve had passed," Reno replied impassively. 

"Unless she wanted hostages---" began Cloud. He was interrupted by a rough curse from Barret and a groan from Tifa. 

"Cloud!" called Tifa, her voice strained. Cloud spun and saw that another door had closed, but both she and Barret were holding it up. He ran to the door and gave them a hand, but the metallic wall was extremely heavy. Cid and Rude moved in to help. 

"No!" said Cloud in a tone that wouldn't accept any discussion. "Rude, if any must go through, it's you! And Cid, if you hold this up, you'll block the door! Everyone move, quickly!" 

The others complied with celerity. When Vincent, the last of the line, came through, Tifa, Cloud and Barret threw themselves to the other side. Barret nearly got his foot crushed by closing door. 

"Goddammit," he swore. "I knew I should have taken weight-lifting instead of swimming in high school!" 

"Let's hurry," said Rude over his shoulder, as he was already running down the corridor, followed closely by Yuffie. "I don't think there's any other doors around, but I don't know for sure, and time is short." 

Cid helped Cloud up, as Aeris was helping Tifa and Vincent was helping Barret, not without difficulty. Barret muttered something about a "damn Turk" the others couldn't make out. Tifa winced as she got up, all her muscles protesting at doing something so soon after so great an effort. Only Cloud seemed to recuperate relatively quickly. _Then again,_ thought Tifa, _he only helped us lift the door, it didn't bang down on him..._

Tifa thanked Aeris, who simply nodded in response. Then, they all forced themselves to follow Yuffie and Rude down the passage. 

As he forced himself to run, Cloud wondered what in the world was happening back in the control room they were leaving behind. 

* * * 

"Can't we open the door somehow?" asked Nanaki. 

Reeve just shook his head. Katya looked up from her console and spoke up. "No. He got control of the security system here, and I can't kick him out. I need more time." She then turned back to her screen, leaning to her left to consult with a tech once in a while. Her hands were flying over the keyboard as she was trying to wrest control of the security systems from Evans. Sweat was building on her brow; it looked like it wasn't going well. 

Elena had been brooding up to that moment, upset at being stuck there while Rude was having all the fun, in a manner of speaking. But she just couldn't resist that one. She looked up and said, tauntingly, "What's the matter, animal? Don't thrust your friends to shut down the system before we fall all the way down to the slums?" 

Nanaki did not reply, but the remark stung Reeve. He turned to the Turk. "No more than you're worried that Rude won't make it there, Elena," he snapped. Then, more softly, he said, "You weren't so bitter in the past, Elena...What happened?" 

"As if you cared, traitor," Elena hissed. 

Reeve just looked at her sadly for a long time, as Elena held his gaze. Finally, she looked away, unable to stare any longer. The truth was that, of course, Tseng's death had hit her very hard. She had wanted him badly, but he had been killed by Cloud's hand before anything could come out of it. And when he had died, she hadn't felt like she had lost a lover, but rather, a father, and that made her even angrier. 

Reno noticed her dark mood and leaned towards her. "What's eating you?" he asked casually. 

"Nothing," she replied curtly. 

"Oh, no," protested Reno. "Don't give me that. You still miss Tseng, don't you?" 

Elena merely turned and glared. 

"Not that I'm blaming you," assured Reno. "He was quite a guy. I miss him too. Sometimes, I feel like the heart of the Turks died with him..." 

"It did," replied the blonde, her voice breaking. "Mine did, anyhow. Damn Cloud!" 

"You still think he did it, don't you?" said a deep voice in front of her. She jumped and glared at the red beast sitting three feet away who had spoken those words. 

"Of course, you're going to tell me he didn't," the blonde hissed. 

"Not at all," replied Nanaki. "I cannot say that, only because I did not see him kill Tseng, he's not the one responsible. However, I saw Tseng's body. His wound had been made by a sword...A rather narrow one, I might add." 

"What's that got to do with---" 

"Cloud's sword is rather wide, in case you hadn't noticed," interrupted Nanaki. "There's no way he could have wounded Tseng to the side; the blade would have tore him open." 

Elena frowned. "You _are_ saying Cloud didn't---" 

"I'm merely stating the facts," replied Nanaki curtly. "You are free to draw any interpretation you wish from them." 

"You're just telling me a bunch of lies!" 

"Suit yourself," said Nanaki, shrugging. The catlike beast turned with feline dignity and padded back to Reeve. 

Elena just stared at him. She jumped when Reno spoke up. "He's right, you know..." her superior said. 

"What do _you_ know?" she snapped. 

"Remember when we buried him?" asked Reno. 

"How could I forget?" Elena shot back. 

"Well, if I recall correctly, you were bawling your eyes out, and Rude and I were quite shaken as well," he told her. "But I did notice the wound on Tseng's side. It was too narrow, and I wondered, then forgot about it. But what that beast said makes perfect sense." 

"---You're lying!" said Elena, looking hurt. 

"Why would I do that?" replied Reno. "And besides, does it matter that much? We did some things that weren't very nice to AVALANCHE, either. But it was part of the game. Of course, having Tseng dead made it personal, but I must admit, in Cloud's place, I might have done the same. And ultimately, Elena, don't forget it's been two years!" 

Elena tensed, then realized Reno was right. She relaxed, sighing. She said nothing else for some time. Then, "Well, I suppose..." 

"And besides," Reno cut in, with a hint of mischievousness in his voice, "I'm so much cuter than Tseng was!" 

Elena drove her elbow in Reno's ribs. She turned to him, her eyes still moist, but a hint of a smile on her lips. "You're such a jerk, Reno!" 

"Guilty as charged," the Turk replied, smiling smugly. 

Before Elena could say anything else, a man in a Shinra guard uniform ran in the control room from one of the side doors, out of breath. He ran to Katya. 

"Miss--the guards under Evans' command--they're coming!" he said breathlessly. 

* * * 

"So far, so good," said Cid. 

"Don't let your guard down," warned Cloud. "In fact, be more alert than ever. I don't like this, I don't like it at all." 

The other remained silent, but alert. Still, despite Cloud's worries, they made it to the control room without incident. To find themselves in front of one of the now-familiar metallic doors. On both sides of the corridor were windows, through which one could see the top of the Sector 3 plate. They were standing in a service corridor that connected the plate directly to the Shinra headquarters building. 

"This one's new," commented Rude about the door. "Of course, you're aware they probably have current running through this one, too." 

"I don't get it," cut in Cid, scowling. "Where are they getting power for running so may amps in there? As far as we know, they may have no current running in there at all!" 

"Take a look outside," replied Aeris, who was looking intently through one of the windows on the side of the corridor. Cid walked to it, followed by Tifa. Cloud remained in front of the door, fuming. _So close, and yet, so far...!_

"I don't see nothing," said Barret, looking over Cid's shoulder. 

"Right, that explains it," said Cid, ignoring him. 

"Explains what?" asked Barret. 

Cid turned to him. "There's no lights out there, which means all the power's being driven elsewhere. The security system is a good bet. We'd better not try to cut this door up." 

Tifa pointed to somewhere outside. "Doesn't this go in the control room?" 

Rude walked to the window and looked at the spot Tifa was pointing to. "It does. The window is rather solid, though." 

Cloud, who had been thinking dark thoughts up to then, suddenly snapped out of it. "But does current run through it?" he asked. 

"Through glass? Unless they added some kind of grid, and I can't see any, I'm pretty sure that's not really possible," said Rude thoughtfully. "It's about ten centimeters thick, though." 

"Well, I can probably cut the whole thing loose from its frame, then!" replied Cloud with enthusiasm. "I'd be surprised if even Shinra thought of running current through that external wall!" 

"Actually, they never did, so you could simply cut the wall out--no need to bother with the window," replied Rude, a hint of enthusiasm in his voice as well. "Safer. But how do we reach that thing?" 

"Walkway right there," said Barret, pointing to a narrow ledge with rounded edges that was barely six inches wide. 

Rude looked at it, and said, "That was never meant to be a ledge. It's just decorative. It's probably pretty slippery, as well." 

"We can probably make it," said Tifa. "But we'll have to be extremely careful." 

"We don't have much time to be careful," Cloud pointed out. "Anybody have some sort of rope or something?" 

"If we had, where the hell would you anchor it?" asked Cid. 

Aeris looked down at the orbs she had in her holder as the others looked for alternatives. Then, some random bit of data from a physics class came back to her. 

"Cloud? I think I know how we can do this!" 

* * * 

"Are you sure you can do this?" 

Aeris looked up in Cloud's worried eyes. She smiled. "Yes," she replied simply, with much more assurance than she felt. 

Cloud hesitated for a moment, then took his decision. "Well, we better do it fast, then. All right, who's going to risk it?" 

"I'll go," ventured Barret. 

Cloud shook his head. "Sorry, Barret, but you're out. You're much too massive for that." 

"Then, why did you ask for volunteers, man?" Barret complained. 

Cloud rolled his eyes. "OK, fine. We don't have time for this. Yuffie, Tifa, you're the lightest among us, so you're both going. We need someone to cut the wall open; that would be Cid or me. Cid?" 

Cid shrugged. "Whatever. Don't care either way." 

Cloud nodded. "All right, I'll go. You'll be backup. Let's do it." And with that, without waiting for anything else, he took a metallic object from Cid's hand and strode towards the window. With a single, effortless movement, he opened it, then straddled the windowsill. He snapped the metallic object to the back of his belt. The object was actually a length of copper wire scavenged from circuitry in the nearby wall surrounding a soft iron core and a Materia orb. 

Cloud looked outside. Inadvertently, he looked down, and forced himself to look back up immediately. They were thirty stories above the plate's surface. A fall would no doubt be fatal. He steeled himself. "Ready." 

Aeris bowed her head and closed her eyes, concentrating. Suddenly, green light flared around her. Cloud could hear the buzz of current going through the copper wire. Bracing himself, he swung his legs out and landed on the thin "walkway". He immediately was pulled to the wall by the magnetic force imbued in the coil. What Aeris was doing was casting "Bolt" from a distance and injecting the current in the coil. The result was a powerful electromagnet that glued Cloud to the wall as long as Aeris kept the spell up. He was soon joined by Yuffie, then by Tifa, both of them held to the wall in the same manner. Carefully picking his steps, Cloud moved to his right, his back sliding across the wall. The wind up there was horrible, chilly, and made the exercise difficult. Worse, as Rude had speculated, the ledge was extremely slippery; the air was clammy, and because of the lack of power, the metal wall was ice-cold. The result was a thin coat of water on surface of the ledge. Despite this, the three made good progress to their destination, a spot a meter from the window Tifa had spotted earlier. 

Just as Cloud had reached the spot, however, he heard Yuffie cry out in surprise. Reflexively, he reached out and managed to grab her arm. She had slipped, and was sliding down; the electromagnet could glue her to the wall, but it would not prevent her from sliding downwards under the effects of gravity. Cloud's powerful grip saved her from sinking down altogether; however, it put pressure on his own magnet, and his boots were slipping off the ledge. Tifa was trying to edge closer so she could help, but she was having trouble with her footing as well. 

Cloud strained to lift the young Ninja up, but he just didn't have enough leverage. Then, he heard Aeris cry out. Her scream chilled his blood; she was obviously suffering greatly, trying to keep all three of them from tumbling all the way down to the plate. 

"She can't take much more of this!" whispered Cloud to himself. Then, louder: "Tifa! Can you grab Yuffie?" 

"Almost...there..." replied Tifa as she was doing her best to get closer. She nearly lost her footing twice, but she eventually managed to grab Yuffie's other arm. 

"Good," said Cloud curtly. "Now, I'm going to let her go. I'll cut the wall open, get rid of any opposition, and come back as fast as I can. From inside, I'll have the leverage to lift her out." 

"Right," replied Tifa, bracing herself. 

Cloud released Yuffie, and Tifa had to strain hard to prevent her from tumbling down. But Cloud was already in motion. Sliding the coil along his belt, he managed to move such that his side was pressed on the wall. He unsheathed his sword, and then, in three quick slices, cut open the wall. He launched himself in. 

Three guards were waiting for him there, rifles drawn and tracking him. The tallest of the guards yelled "Drop it!" and waved his rifle menacingly. 

"You're kidding, right?" replied Cloud calmly. He dodged the salvo the guards shot towards him and, coolly, methodically, he proceeded to take them out. It was over in a mere ten seconds. 

Cloud let his sword clatter down on the floor and ran to the opening in the wall. He grabbed Yuffie and pulled her in. She practically fell flat on her face as she stumbled in, but she did not complain. She was very pale. 

"You all right?" asked Cloud. 

"God, and me who's scared of heights..." was all Yuffie could reply. 

Cloud moved to the opening again and offered his hand to Tifa. She took it gratefully. Just as she prepared to step in, the electromagnet suddenly lost all power. She fell with a gasp, but Cloud managed to hold her up, although the effort wrenched his left shoulder severely. Gritting his teeth, the blond man ignored the lancing pain in his shoulder and pulled Tifa in. She managed to come in more gracefully than Yuffie, but she was pale as well. 

"What happened?" asked Cloud. 

"The magnet gave out all of the sudden... Something must've happened to Aeris!" she explained. And with that, she ran to the massive door and touched the button next to it. The door slid up, to reveal Cid, Barret and Vincent worrying over the young Cetra, who was kneeling on the floor. Rude, who had been standing next to the door, immediately ran to the console inside the control room. Aeris looked up as Tifa came forward, and Tifa thought she saw the Cetra's face register surprise briefly. Tifa frowned at that. _What, is she surprised to see me?_ she wondered. But the surprise was already gone from Aeris' face, replaced by a wan, tired smile. _Probably just my imagination,_ Tifa concluded. 

Cloud came up from behind her. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned. 

Aeris turned to him, smiled, and got to her feet slowly. "I'm all right. Sorry I dropped the power at the last minute, but it just got too much for me, and..." 

Cloud smiled back. "That's OK, nobody got hurt." He turned to Rude, who was busy with the console. "Is everything all right?" 

Rude did not reply immediately; he was punching in a very long passphrase. When he was done, he punched in the abort code, waited to see the result, then sighed, and nodded at himself. He turned to the others. "Midgar is safe," he said evenly. "All bombs have been defused." 

This was met by cheers from Barret, Cid, Cloud and Yuffie. Tifa grinned, unable and unwilling to avoid being swept away by the elation of her comrades. She did not notice Aeris who, strangely enough, kept her face expressionless. 

That's when all the lights went off at once. 

* * * 

"Are you sure Evans is in there?" asked Katya in a neutral voice. 

The guard's uniform was covered with dust. Several cuts could be seen on him, and he had lost his helmet in the battle. Still, his voice was strong when he spoke. "We're positive. We surrounded him in there. He has nowhere to go." 

"Very well. Let's pry him out." 

The guard looked embarrassed. "Well..." 

"You have a problem with that, private?" snapped Katya. 

"I would very much like to go in there and nail the bastard, miss Shinra," said the guard softly. "But we don't know where he is in there, and defensively, his position is pretty strong." 

"But we just shut down the reactor," protested Reeve. "There's no way he has power for any defenses now!" 

"True enough," agreed the guard. "Still, several power packs are missing in the arsenal, and we suspect he's got them with him. We have to be very careful. I'd rather not have you take any risks, miss Shinra." 

"The hell with it!" yelled Katya, her temper flaring. Then, at the price of an immense effort to control herself, she managed to bring her voice back to normal. "Let's go in." 

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" asked Nanaki. "Cloud just called, and they've defused the bombs. They'll be here soon." 

Katya shook her head. "No. This is my responsibility. For once, I don't want somebody else to do my own dirty work." 

"At least, let us come with you," pleaded Reeve. 

Katya considered this, then nodded. "All right. But I want to handle Evans myself." 

"Deal," replied Reeve. 

Katya turned to the guard closest to the door--a thirtyish woman with slender, wiry muscles--and nodded. The guard turned to the door and reached removed a panel from the wall to its right, revealing a cavity full of wires. She plunged her hands inside, twisted some wires, and the door slid up ponderously. 

"Move out!" commanded the highest ranking guard. 

The guards formed a protective ring around Katya, and they moved inside the room. It was pitch black, the only light coming from the open door. The room was filled with crates of different kinds, some of them containing explosives. Reeve strained to see inside, and thought he saw something move. He screamed a warning, but it was too late; a sharp _crack_ retorted from somewhere to Reeve's left. He reacted instantly, turning his weapon in the general direction of the sniper, and firing several shots. Every single one of them missed. However, as soon as Reeve stopped shooting, Nanaki leaped on top of some crates. A roar was heard, then a human scream, and Nanaki emerged from behind the crates, his fangs dripping blood on the floor. 

"I have dispatched the sniper," he said, his voice calm. 

Reeve was not listening, however. He had turned and saw, horrified, that Katya was lying on her back. She had been shot. The bullet had gone right through her side to fragment inside her torso, damaging several major organs. She was dying. A pool of blood was forming on her left, a big red stain growing on her otherwise immaculate suit. 

Seeing this, something snapped in Reeve. He ran forward with only one thought in mind: to kill Evans. Several snipers took shots at him; every time, through sheer luck or because it was dark and he was moving quickly, they missed, and he managed to shoot them down. He eventually reached a closed door in the back of the room. He rammed it; it gave in, opening wide and smashing into the wall. The open door revealed a very small room with bare walls, and a computer console and a chair as its only furniture. And behind the console was sitting a single man. 

Predictably enough, it was Evans. The man who had been Katya Shinra's right hand in her ascension to power and who, ultimately, had betrayed her. He looked up from his console and favored Reeve with an evil smile. 

"Ah," said Evans, "the cream puff!" 

Reeve raised his pistol, but resisted the urge to pull the trigger. There was one thing he wanted to know first. "Why?" he hissed, all of his contempt and hatred for the man easily discernible. 

Evans shrugged. "I did what she ordered me to do, to the letter. As for shooting her, well, part of her orders were to take control of Shinra if anything happened. Something happened. I suppose she couldn't take the strain of power. Imagine! Allying herself with terrorists! In any case, I was, at that moment, the president of Shinra, and she was a danger to the company's future." He said all this in a passionless, almost conversational voice, as if he were speaking of the weather or of the latest football scores. 

Reeve had a hard time believing he had just heard that. "What are you talking about? She was going to make Shinra richer than it ever was! She was going to turn it into an instrument for peace! _You had no right!_" Again, Reeve nearly lost control of his trigger finger. 

Evans smiled. " `That's your perspective,' to coin the late miss Shinra's expression. Mine is, you are outlaws. You've won, but I made sure it was not without a high price." 

Reeve pressed his lips together, hard. His arm had been lowering unconsciously as he was talking; presently, he raised it and aimed at Evans' forehead. 

Evans laughed at this. "Right, you're going to shoot me, now! You, who swore you'd never harm anybody! You, who always wanted to find a peaceful solution to every problem! Hah! You're not going to throw away all your years of pacifism in a single instant!" 

Reeve was taken aback, but recovered. "I shot the guards outside," he remarked, his voice slightly hesitant. 

"Self defense," sneered Evans. "Shooting me would be cold-blooded murder, and you're too much of a cream puff to do this. Now, just stick me in prison, and let's get it over with!" 

Reeve lowered his weapon for a moment and looked down. He had sworn that he would not harm any human being in cold blood a long time ago. He was trying desperately to find the strength to override his earlier vow, but to no avail. 

Evans laughed. 

Again, something snapped in Reeve. He raised his gun and fired. The bullet flew to Evans and entered his head right between his eyes. Evans died immediately, his face frozen for eternity in an expression of surprise. Feeling nothing, Reeve looked at Evans' lifeless body, slumped on his chair, for a short time. Then, setting his jaw, his eyes filled with tears, his mind full of guilt, he ran back out. 

He found his way back to Katya and her guards pretty quickly. Katya was still alive, but barely, and she was going fast, despite Nanaki's best efforts with his Restore Materia. The guards parted to let Reeve through. The businessman kneeled next to the dying woman. Katya opened her eyes and smiled weakly. Reeve took her hand and squeezed it. 

"Evans is dead," he said, his voice breaking. "I...shot him." 

"See," whispered Katya. "I told you you weren't a cream puff!" 

Reeve looked down. "I'm sorry...I should have seen this coming, try to prevent it..." 

Katya coughed, then shook her head weakly. "No, Reeve. I didn't see it. I can't expect you to have seen it when I didn't." 

Tears formed in Reeve's eyes. He let them fall, not caring if people saw him cry. "Please don't die," he whispered. "There's so much we could have done together..." 

Katya sighed, which made her cough again. Then: "There's no way I can avoid death, now. I guess I sinned, and I'm being punished for it. Reeve..." 

"Yes?" 

"There's something I want you to do..." Katya whispered. 

"Anything..." Reeve whispered back. 

"I'm leaving Shinra in your hands. Please...don't let the company die because of my sins..." she pleaded. 

"But..." replied Reeve, hesitating. 

Katya coughed several times. Blood was trickling down her mouth. "Please, Reeve...I'm begging you..." 

"...All right," he finally said. 

Katya smiled, coughed, then closed her eyes. Her hand was still gripping Reeve's, but her strength was going. 

That's when Cloud's team entered the room. Reeve's head snapped up. "Aeris! Over here! She's dying!" he called. 

Aeris ran to Katya's side, knelt, facing Reeve, and closed her eyes. After a moment, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Reeve...I can't bring her back," she whispered, voice filled with sadness. 

Katya coughed one more time, then her grip on Reeve's hand went limp and her eyes rolled back. 

She was dead. 

Reeve closed her eyes tenderly, almost lovingly. "Good-bye, Katya," he whispered. He stood, all energy drained from his body, and saw that he was not the only one whose eyes were filled with tears. 

Tifa walked to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Reeve," were the only words she found. 

"Yeah," was the only thing Reeve could reply. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	19. Bittersweet Victory

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  17. Bittersweet victory 

Tifa's bar was rather crowded that night, despite the fact that most regulars had been kicked out by Barret. 

All of AVALANCHE was there, of course. But Reeve had also invited some of the guards who had defended him and Katya when they made a run for the reactor's control room. And since he had inherited of the Turk's contract, he invited them as well, and Reno could think of no reason to refuse. 

Nanaki and Reeve looked over the crowd pensively, Nanaki lying down next to the fireplace and Reeve sitting in a nearby chair. Barret, Cid, Rude and Shera (who had flown in from Rocket Town with the repaired Tiny Bronco when she heard the news) were sitting at a table in the corner, and they seemingly enjoyed themselves. The Shinra guards were all sitting at the bar, singing war songs louder and louder as they got more drunk. Elena and Reno were sitting at the bar as well, conversing quietly. Tifa was frantically trying to manage her personnel while mixing drinks to reply to the demand of the Shinra guards. 

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to invite the guards," pointed out Nanaki, startling Reeve out of his pensive mood. 

"Maybe," replied Reeve absently. 

"My friend," said Nanaki, turning a compassionate eye to his friend, "is anything on your mind?" 

Reeve sighed. "I don't know...Yeah, actually, I do. It's Katya. Why did she have to die? We were going to accomplish so much..." he trailed off. 

Nanaki did not reply immediately. Then: "True. However, I have asked some of the guards what kind of person she was." The red beast paused, as if afraid to say anything further. 

"And?" asked Reeve, annoyed. 

"Well, she was ready to do a lot of things to reach the position she eventually held," replied Nanaki carefully. "Not all of them very ethical nor very honest." 

"Her father's daughter," said Reeve sadly. 

"Maybe," replied Nanaki. "In any case, it eventually proved to be her undoing." 

"How so?" asked Reeve sharply, turning his head to Nanaki. 

"Evans was her right-hand man," Nanaki explained. "The main reason for that is that he one of the few who was ready to do those unethical things for her, on the guarantee that she would give him executive power once things settled down. Evans, however, was impatient, and when he saw an opportunity to take things into his own hands, he did. He miscalculated; most guards stayed loyal to miss Shinra. But still, if Katya hadn't chosen such a ruthless aid, this wouldn't have happened. And if she hadn't formulated that contingency plan, all of Midgar wouldn't have been put in danger like this." 

Reeve considered this. Then, sadly, he said, "Still, it's too bad she got killed at the moment she was trying to do good, for once. Why is life so unfair?" 

"I do not know," Nanaki replied. "I may never know. It is rather unfortunate, but it may have to do with the fact that unethical people have unethical allies who do not turn ethical at the same time as they do. Unfortunate indeed, but I'm afraid there's nothing to be done about it." 

Reeve said nothing for a while. Then, when he finally spoke up, he sounded very bitter. "I suppose you're right." He sighed. "I just wish I weren't the one stuck with Shinra on top of that. I refused the position once before. Now...I feel honor bound to take it up." 

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, my friend," Nanaki assured him. 

* * * 

"Never thought I'd sit down with a Turk," muttered Barret. 

Rude shrugged. "Never thought I'd be sitting with AVALANCHE, either, but here I am. Do you want me to leave?" he asked, his voice level. 

"Nah," replied Cid before Barret could say anything. "You saved all of Midgar, man! You're a fucking hero!" 

Shera elbowed him for his foul mouth. He just looked at her with a dumb expression. She tried to look stern, but it didn't suit her at all. Cid laughed at her expression. 

"Well, that's good," replied Rude. "Because I'm leaving the Turks." 

That shocked everybody at the table. 

"Why?" Barret finally managed to ask. 

Rude shrugged. "Don't know. I'm a professional, but I have some standards. Ever since we dropped the Sector 7 plate, I found the job stank more and more. I stayed because Reno was my friend, because being a Turk had a certain prestige, and because of loyalty. But now, Reno is growing more and more distant, Elena doesn't speak to anyone and being a Turk doesn't mean much anymore. As for loyalty, since Reeve is the new boss of the Turks, they'll mostly follow AVALANCHE around doing odd jobs. So I thought I might as well just join AVALANCHE and make the thing official." 

More stunned silence. Everyone waited for Rude to say something else. However, the bald man did not seem inclined to say anything further, especially since this was probably the longest stretch of talking he had done in a long time. 

Cid finally broke the silence. "Uh...Well...I'll have to ask Cloud and Tifa, but it's OK by me, man. Welcome aboard!" The pilot presented his hand to the ex-Turk, who shook it firmly. 

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this?" complained Barret. "I'm the one who founded AVALANCHE, dammit!" 

"So, say something!" snapped Cid in mock annoyance. 

"I'm not sure it's a good idea, that's what I say!" he replied, oblivious to Cid's sarcasm. "The Turks brought down the plate, dammit!" 

"You blew up the reactor," replied Rude calmly. There was no reproach in his voice; it was strictly factual. 

Barret gave Rude a look and shut up. Finally, he sighed. "Yeah, you're right. No use holding grudges over what was done during a war. Besides, you let us pass when we raided Midgar to stop Hojo, so you can't be all that bad." He sighed again. "All right, if it's OK with the others, it's fine by me. Welcome to AVALANCHE." 

They shook hands. 

Cid grinned. 

Shera leaned towards the pilot and whispered in his ear. "Cid, the diplomat. I've seen it all," she giggled. 

"Very funny," replied the pilot gruffly. But he kept his grin. 

"Could I speak to you in private?" Shera asked him, her tone serious once more. 

Cid looked at Barret and Rude. They seemed to have a conversation going, with Barret doing most of the talking. Cid stood. "If you'll excuse us, we'll let you two hit it off and talk elsewhere," he said. 

"We're _not_ hitting it off, Highwind," replied Barret testily. 

"Right, Wallace," shot back Cid skeptically. Shera took his hand and dragged him off to the corner of the bar. There, she looked into his eyes, and her boldness evaporated. She looked down, embarrassed. 

"Hey, Shera, what's up with you?" asked Cid. She looked up, to see his eyes filled with concern. 

"I was worried," she said simply. 

"Well, yeah, sorry I didn't call, but things got kind of hectic," apologized Cid. 

"It only takes five minutes to call, Cid. I'd appreciate it if..." 

"All right, I get the message!" snapped Cid. "Geez, who are you now, my mom?" 

"I just care a lot about you," Shera replied softly. 

Cid's expression softened. "I care about you too, y'know," he said with a slight smile. 

* * * 

Reno emptied his tenth glass of whatever it was Tifa was mixing. Elena amused herself by imagining that it was filled with all kinds of poison, but she had to admit the bar hostess knew her stuff. The drinks were first class. She downed her second one as Reno emptied half of his eleventh. 

"Hey," she said, touching Reno's arm. "Lay off a bit!" 

"Who asked you?" replied Reno with a slur in his voice. But he slowed down a bit, nevertheless. 

Elena looked at him with compassion in her eyes. "Look, I know you're pissed off Rude left---" 

Reno silenced her with a look. "You don't know anything, Elena," he said grimly. 

"So, enlighten me, dammit!" Elena snapped back. 

Reno just looked at her for a moment. Finally, he spoke, his slur all but gone. "I've known Rude since we were kids. He was my best friend. We did all kinds of things together, although he's quite older than I am. We'd read the papers about the success of the SOLDIER program, and found it impressive. But what fascinated Rude was the Turks and their code of conduct. He wanted such a life so badly, I think it almost hurt him at times. When he joined, I followed; he had been my friend, he had always looked out for me, and, well, I felt sort of lost when he wasn't around, so I thought it was the best thing to do." 

Reno paused to take another sip. "But it turned out Rude did not like it as much as he thought he would. I think he had illusions on how the Turks were. I had none. So he became good ol' reliable Rude, the model Turk, who such a great model that no one wanted to promote him. He never said anything, but I know it bothered him. I guess I shouldn't have accepted when they made me Tseng's second in command. He's been pretty distant ever since. And...I've been distant, too. I didn't know how to deal with him." 

The Turk finished his drink. "I'm not pissed off, Elena. I'm angry. At myself. I drove my friend away. And of all places, he's going into AVALANCHE. Ugh." 

Elena smiled sympathetically. "I know how you feel," she said. 

"You don't know shit, Elena," replied Reno. He laughed. "But that's OK. I appreciate what you're trying to do." He sighed. "But now, I don't know what I'm going to do. Reeve's our boss. Damn boyscout. Maybe we should ask him to renounce the contract." 

"Or maybe you could just stay with us," said a deep voice behind him. 

Reno nearly jumped out of his skin. He swiveled on his stool and saw Vincent. He relaxed. 

"You'll have to teach me how to sneak up like that," Reno told him. Then, he turned serious again. "And I don't think staying is such a good idea." 

"Why not?" asked Vincent. 

"Too much bad blood," replied Reno. "Me in sector seven. Cloud in the temple of the Ancients." 

Vincent shrugged. "With time, you'll all forget your resentment." 

"Not likely," snapped Elena. 

Vincent just looked at her. 

"You're not here to give us a recruiting speech, I'll bet," said Reno. 

"As a matter of fact, I'm not," replied Vincent. "I'm wondering whether you know some things on Hojo." 

"Depends," replied Reno carefully. "What things?" 

"What, exactly, he did to me," said Vincent, his voice a mere whisper. 

Reno scowled, concentrating. Then: "Nope." 

Vincent stared at him. "Are you absolutely sure?" 

"Tseng may have known something," amended Reno. "But you can hardly ask him now, can you?" At that, Elena flinched somewhat, but quickly regained her composure. 

Vincent stared at him some more. Then, he nodded slowly and, without a word, turned and walked away. 

"Hey!" called Elena, surprising everyone. "You asked us to join AVALANCHE..." 

Vincent swiveled and stared at her. 

"But how come you, an ex-Turk, joined them in the first place?" she asked. 

"Because things change," replied Vincent. Then, he left, silently. 

Elena and Reno swiveled back to the bar. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Elena wondered aloud. 

"No idea," replied Reno. But he had hesitated before saying it. 

* * * 

"Can't this wait? There are things I must do," Aeris asked, somewhat impatiently. 

"Nope," Yuffie replied, dragging Aeris forward by her wrist. "Trust me, you'll like it. It's the least I can do, after you recovered all my Materia from that yucky place!" 

"_Our_ Materia," corrected Aeris before she could help herself. She knew, though, that it was useless to try to get _that_ fact in Yuffie's head. 

"_My_ Materia," insisted Yuffie. "Reeve said it will be fine as soon as the dead Mako has been washed off, so I thought I'd do something for you." 

They climbed down the stairs and got to one of the bedrooms in the basement. Smiling mischievously, Yuffie opened the door and, with a theatrical sweep of her arm, motioned Aeris inside. Aeris sighed and, shaking her head, complied. 

Inside the room stood her adoptive mother, Elmyra. 

Their reaction was mutual and unhesitant: they ran into one another's embrace, laughing and crying at the same time. They both tried to speak at the same time as well, neither of them being really coherent. Yuffie tried to insert herself in the conversation, without success; mother and daughter were totally oblivious to her. 

The young ninja decided to leave them alone. She tip-toed out of the room and closed the door silently, leaving the two women alone. 

_That was oh so noble of me,_ she mused as she climbed back up to the bar. _Cloud's probably right. I'm growing up, whatever I do._ She wiped a tear from her eyes. She had to admit to herself that the reunion had moved her. _Geez, I'm even getting soft!_

She looked down at her right hand, where she held a single Materia orb. She had liberated it from Aeris' wrist holder as she was dragging her down the corridor. _Then again, maybe not,_ she thought, snickering silently. 

* * * 

Cloud was sitting outside, a mug of very hot and very spiked coffee between his hands. He took a sip, looking at the gorgeous, cloudless sky, thinking of nothing in particular. He had tried to mingle with the guests, without much success; something nagged him, and he just couldn't seem to relax. He had tried to help Tifa, but she had wanted none of that and kicked him out of the kitchen. He had to admit that he probably would have been more hindrance than help. So, he put on a coat, went out, and sat at one of the tables Tifa had gotten for next summer. 

Cloud looked at the stars, something he had done countless times. He tried to distinguish the constellations. The Whale, as usual, dominated the winter sky. The Penguin, its usual companion, seemed to look down at Cloud and laugh at him. Cloud smiled at the image. Stars laughing at him! Well, maybe they truly were. 

The door behind him opened, letting the raucous signing from the Shinra guards out into the quiet winter night. The door closed a short time after, muffling the singing. Cloud heard the sound of snow creaking as someone walked towards him. He turned, and was mildly surprised to see Tifa in a short blue winter coat with AVALANCHE stenciled on the left breastpocket. Coats like that had started to appear over the past two years as news of AVALANCHE's amazing victory spread. Almost nobody believed the story, but it sold relatively well, and some guy had bought the rights to use the name from Barret and was now making coats. 

Cloud suddenly noticed he was staring at Tifa as she was coming closer. _This coat suits her,_ he thought. _She's really pretty in it._ He pushed the thought out of his mind and smiled at her as she sat down next to him. 

"Are the guards done drinking?" he asked her. "They still sound awfully drunk!" 

Tifa smiled back mischievously. "Yup. They're so drunk they didn't even notice when I started giving them tap water instead of drinks! I think they've had enough, anyways." 

Cloud chuckled. "I'm sure you're right." 

They both stayed silent for a while, the only sound being the wind over the town's snowy streets. 

"So...what are you doing outside?" asked Tifa after some time. 

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno. I know we've won, although the price was high. We've brought Aeris back. Shinra will never be a problem again. And yet..." He hesitated. 

"And yet what?" 

"Well, for starters, I'd like to speak to Aeris a bit," Cloud replied. He didn't notice, but Tifa tensed at that. "I've missed her a lot...But I couldn't find her anywhere. I know Yuffie's reunited her with Elmyra. Elmyra's inside, chatting with Barret. But where is her daughter?" 

"Maybe she needed time alone?" suggested Tifa. 

"I suppose," sighed Cloud. "But there's other stuff bothering me." 

"Such as?" Tifa asked, surprised. She had been thinking just now how Aeris' presence or absence seemed to take all his attention. 

"Well, those cyborgs, for one," replied Cloud. "Reeve tells me there's no way Shinra could be behind this. So, there's a maniac somewhere doing them. Where? 

"Then, there's that man in the white cloak you met, as well as my own...loss of control..."---Cloud spoke those three words with immense self-loathing---"back at the Lifestream. And Aeris had been acting pretty weird when she went ballistic. Why in the world did she try to kill you? She could have just flown away, and there's no way you could have stopped her!" 

_Jealousy? But why would she be jealous? She's the one who manages to get his attention, not me! And she never seemed to be really worried two years ago..._ she thought bitterly. She pushed that out of her mind. _I'm paranoid,_ she decided. _We've always been very good friends._ Aloud, she said, "I have no idea." 

"Are you sure?" Cloud probed. "What happened in her mind, exactly?" 

"I'm already having trouble remembering what happened, I'm afraid," Tifa confessed. She remained silent for a moment, thinking. Then, she gave up, shaking her head. "I don't remember anything that would explain it." 

Cloud considered this. "I don't like this," he muttered. 

"Neither do I," added Tifa. 

Cloud sighed. "Well, I suppose we'll come to that bridge when we cross it!" He stood up. "What do you say we rejoin the living?" he suggested with a smile. 

"The living? Who are those?" replied Tifa, intentionally pretending not to understand. 

"Those blokes inside the bar, who else?" replied Cloud, deadpan. 

"They? Living? You're joking, right?" said Tifa with a grin. 

"Well, whoever," replied Cloud dismissively. "Shall we go in?" 

Tifa got up as well, and, side by side, they made their way back to the bar. The guards inside were quite a bit more subdued now. Most of them had fallen from exhaustion, and some were even snoring. Their friends looked up, greeting both of them. Elmyra was sitting alone in a table in the back corner. She beckoned them both. 

They sat down on the other side of the table. "So, glad to be reunited with your daughter?" Cloud opened. 

"More than words can express," replied Elmyra, sighing contentedly. "Thank you, Cloud, for pushing everyone to bring her back. And Tifa, thank you for saving her from that maniac!" 

"Hey!" protested Cloud while the two women laughed at his expense. 

When the laughter died down, Tifa leaned forward. "Where is Aeris, anyway?" she asked. 

Elmyra looked sad. "She left." 

Cloud and Tifa said nothing, stunned. Elmyra continued. "She said she had something to take care of, and that she had to be alone to do it. She asked me to give this to both of you," she said, sliding a sealed envelope across the table to Cloud. 

Cloud frowned, took the envelope, unsealed it, and read the letter inside. His frowned got deeper and deeper as he read further. When he finished reading, he blanched. 

"What is it, Cloud?" asked Tifa, worried. 

Without words, Cloud just offered her the letter. Tifa read: 

> _Cloud, Tifa,_
> 
> _I'm sorry I left like this without saying goodbye, but I did not want my resolve to weaken. I knew that if I saw my two dearest friends, I would not have the strength. You would have insisted to come with me, and I would not have been able to say no._
> 
> _Tifa, you saved my sanity, and for this, you have my eternal gratitude. Despite your efforts, I still feel a...a pull, I suppose, is the best way to express it. A compulsion. Yes, that's better. There is something I must do, for the good of the whole Planet. To make sure Meteor can never threaten us again. Don't worry, Cloud, I don't intend to get myself killed this time!_
> 
> _I don't know how long I'll be gone._
> 
> _I wish I could tell you more. Tifa, you were right earlier. I have changed. I don't know how, or why, but I don't feel the confidence I always felt before that everything would turn out to be all right. I also feel there are things I must keep from all of you. Those feelings are all new to me. I don't know how to deal with them._
> 
> _I most dearly hope that by withholding my knowledge, I'm not endangering any of you. That is partly why I feel I must do this alone. If you do not come with me, you cannot be hurt. If you came with me, I'd have to tell you things...that I'd rather not tell. Not yet._
> 
> _I'm probably not making much sense. In any case, I'll be gone for a little bit. I hope you're not too sad. Please, do not follow me. I know that I can do this._
> 
> _Please take care of one another._
> 
> _Aeris._

Tifa remained silent for a long time. "Did she tell you anything more?" she finally asked Elmyra. 

"She didn't tell me much," the older woman replied. 

"And you let her go?" asked Cloud, frowning. 

"You know Aeris, Cloud...she'd have found a way to do what she wants, whatever I'd do," Elmyra answered. 

It was Cloud's turn to remain silent. Then, he turned to Tifa. "What do you think this is all about?" 

Tifa looked down at the tabletop. "Well, I can think of two things. One, she's gone totally bonkers. I'd be very surprised if this were the case." 

"And two?" 

Tifa sighed. "Two, she's still under the influence of those Ancients I thought I had kicked out of her mind. I don't know how, or why. But that's probably the voices she's hearing." 

Cloud stared at her, tense. "I think I like the first hypothesis better, Tifa," he stated in a low voice. 

Tifa looked up. "Well, if the second one is true, I suppose we'll know soon enough, won't we?" 

The End of _The Price of Resurrection_

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




	20. Author's Postscript

The price of resurrection

Written by [Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1]

* * *

#  Author's postscript 

Well, that's it. Writing this took a _lot_ of time, and one would wonder why I didn't just post the first 5 chapters and do one chapter at a time from there. The reason is because I'm a perfectionist. Some chapters gave me a lot of trouble; chapters 13 and 16, in particular. 16 was the worse and went through three rewrites, the last rewrite consisting of giving up and scrapping the whole thing. I think I made the right choice; the new ending feels a lot less artificial, although there is less action in it. Thrust me, you don't want the ending with more action; it was really lame. 

I have plans to make this a trilogy. The second one will be called "The price of redemption", and I'll let you guess who is redempting. The third is tentatively called "The price of competence," and will deal with those cyborgs in chapter 13. It will also give AVALANCHE a different place in the Planet's destiny, completing the moral reflection you may have seen in the fanfic so far. My reflection concerns the responsibilities of humankind towards the planet that allows us to live. Hopefully, it's not that obvious in there; I try not to make my points with a sledgehammer. This is a fanfic, not a Kant book! 

Also, you'll note that Aeris has quite a different personality from the game. Well, not really that different from the game personality as from the personality most fans give her. I've always seen Aeris as quite a bit more assertive than what was portrayed in most fanfics. In the game, she's quite forward, almost blunt. Most authors tone this down; I chose not to. I chose to draw the parallel between Tifa, the "down to earth" lady who's almost pathologically shy, and Aeris, the quasi-angel who's very assertive. I hope to make this more obvious in the next part of the trilogy. Especially since she is acting rather weird. There's a reason for that; you'll see it in the next part of the trilogy better, because she played a relatively small role in this part. 

Finally, people will probably ask me why I scrapped the Highwind. And I know people will ask whether I followed Mr. Verderosa's scuttling of it. I haven't; I had no plans to scrap the Highwind at first. The reason is quite simple, really: I had no idea what Cid was going to do against the WEAPON, and that's the only thing I found! `:{)` There's a couple of places in there where the story unfolded differently from what I thought it would. The whole encounter with Katya surprised me; I first thought of making her a badder Shinra, worse than her father, etc, etc, etc, but that's trite. I decided to make her power-hungry, but open to reasonable discourse. I hope that does not seem unrealistic, but I thought it would be interesting to make Shinra the so-called "good guys" (or at least partially) for once. It forces me to find new threats. At first, I didn't think I'd kill her off, but I realized that gave a lot more impact to the story. 

I enjoyed writing this story. There were parts I was frustrated by my lack of ability to convey what I wanted to say, but it went pretty smoothly, all in all. I hope you enjoyed reading it; that is, after all, the only thing that counts. 

You are welcome to send me comments, criticisms, etc. I'll take e-mail only, though. My address is [bge@crosswinds.net][1]. 

Also, the fanfic you're reading was originally written in Texinfo, a format mostly meant for technical documentation, but which I chose because it's versatile. You most likely have the HTML version of the fanfic, but I can also generate very pretty PDF. If you want the Texinfo source, just drop me an e-mail. 

* * *

  
This document was generated using [_texi2html_][2]

_[Benoit Goudreault-Emond][1] April, 9 2001_

   [1]: mailto:bge@crosswinds.net
   [2]: http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html




End file.
